Contributed by Posh Pets Photography, Toronto, Canada
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard.” ~ A.A. Milne
I met Magic on a crisp, Sunday morning in the early days of what would be a hard, cold Winter in Toronto. He was a gorgeous boy, full of curiosity at this stranger with a camera. Although quite ill from the cancer that was ravaging his body, he and I had a gentle discussion about what a Posh Pets Heritage Session entailed – I was there to create gorgeous images of him for his family to treasure forever. Magic seemed to understand and, for his part, graciously agreed to to help me do so.
Given how ill Magic was, I had been prepared for the worst. His family had initially been afraid that they had left it too late, but I assured them that I would move heaven and earth to ensure we got beautiful photographs of their boy. It was far too important to miss this moment.
And so, that is exactly what we did. As is often the case with dogs, Magic rose to the occasion with all of the enthusiasm he could muster. As a result, he was able to show me all of his special spots in his home. We photographed him on ‘his’ bed in the master bedroom, with his favourite toys, and in the yard he had spent many an hour with his family. Finally, we went for one last slow walk in his favourite park.
At some point, I knew we had accomplished what we had set out to do. Magic was tired and he had flashed his beautiful smile too many times to count. It was, quite simply, time for me to leave. I went over to Magic, sat down, hugged him close and whispered my good-byes in his ear, knowing that we would not meet again. True enough, some 24 hours later, Magic said his final good-bye, surrounded by those closest to him.
Heritage Sessions are not easy. Not for me. Not for my clients. But, they are so worth it. When we reviewed the images together a couple of weeks later, we all cried. Tears of grief, of course. But, in amongst those tears, was the realization that Magic would always be with them – in the photography they now held in their hands and forever in their hearts.
To see more beautiful imagery of this session, please see the Posh Pets Blog at: http://poshpetsblog.com
