Sometimes life is not what you expected...

Have you ever had that person that your spouse talked about that you were jealous of.  Yeah, my husband had that girl.  She was a friend that he had known since high school.  She was family of one of his customers that he called on regularly.  When he came home talking about her, it was nails on a chalk board every time he mentioned her name because he always knew so much about her and talked about her in such a high regard.  To put it lightly, I despised her.

Well one day, he announced to me that she had just had a baby and he volunteered me to take her newborn pictures.  WHAT???!!!  NO WAY.  oh...Yes.  He.  Did.  

I was sick to my stomach.  Why would he do such a thing?  Now she was on her way to my house and I was a nervous wreck.  I was so irritated.  But I pulled it together as she knocked on my door.  I opened the door there she stood with her precious little baby boy and her darling husband.  She was way cuter than I imagined.  My heart sunk.  

They came in and we conducted newborn pictures.  We chatted and got to know each other, and I was so annoyed at how much I really, really liked them.  She was cute AND nice.  How could that be?? 

Well, fast forward a year and several photo shoots later…. Shonda was pregnant again.  

We celebrated Jet's 1st Birthday.

We took maternity pictures.  

Next thing I knew I was at the hospital to take their baby girl's hospital pictures, sharing in a special moment with this couple who I now adored beyond words and was fortunate enough to call friends.   

This is the reason I do what I do as a photographer.  I was able to document a moment of their lives that I knew they would cherish for ever, but little did I know the extent of how valued that moment was going to be.  

Less than three months after the birth of their baby girl, on Saturday, August 23, 2014, Mike Fiore, was in a horrific boating accident.  He was transferred to a  local hospital in Missouri near where the accident happened.   He was expected to make a full recovery.  However, three days later, on August 26, 2014, Mike Fiore, a father, husband, son, a boat builder extraordinaire, and a friend to many, passed away of a pulmonary embolism.   

I write this in tears.  Pissed off.  Mad.  That I am yet again having to experience a family being devastated by death.  Yet, I know that God has a bigger plan.  Not sure what that plan is yet. But it is the only thing I can do to fathom this wretched situation.  

Yesterday we celebrated Mike's life.  I knew him as a father and a husband.  And yesterday, I learned of the mark he left in the power boat industry.  He was an icon.  

He will be missed.


Sometimes life is not what you expect.

I sure never expected to be barbecuing with this little family who knocked on my door one day for newborn pictures.

I gained a friend. 

And more, I never expected to help plan this husband's funeral.

She lost a husband.  

Take time to enjoy today. Embrace it.  Enjoy it.  Make the most of it.

Sometimes life takes a turn you won't expect….