Happy summer! I’m so glad it’s here and I’m enjoying every single bit of it, I hope you are as well.

I’m dying to share this, so I’ll jump right into it. For those of you who entered into my Mother’s Day Portrait Giveaway, THANK YOU! I absolutely had the hardest time choosing a winner as each story was so unique and heartfelt, so next year, I’ll let my readers and followers vote.. 🙂

This year’s winner was Donelle Omer and here’s her story……

“My mother taught by example. She showed me how to be the strong, independent woman I am. Having lost her father as a little girl, my mom was raised by a single mother. My parents always seemed to have more than one job when I was growing up. My mom held two to three jobs while going to school when I was a kid. She would take us to recycle our cans and do something fun with the money about once a month, to make sure we had some quality time together. She always made light of any struggle and she will always help another, no matter how far down she, herself, is. She raised my sister, Mary, as her own and encouraged me to keep the bond with my oldest brother, Sam. She raised my brother, Doug, and I to take pride in our hard work and accomplishments. In 1995, when Doug was 19, he took his own life. He and our sister lived across the country in Florida. My mom lost her son and though it shattered her world, as it would any mother’s, she picked up the pieces of her life and carries his memory with her. Years later, she married the love of her life, Ronnie Miller, my step-dad. Their many adventures and love of wild flowers and vegetable gardening always made for a bright summer. My step-father’s unexpected passing in 2012 was a major blow to my mom. Her world was crushed again. And just last year my mother lost her own mother. She’s struggled financially, emotionally, and with her health, but even after all she went through, she got back up and kept going. My mom has suffered more loss in her lifetime than a person should ever be expected to handle but she still counts her blessings each day & says grace before each meal. She’s taught me resilience and for that, I’ll forever be grateful. In my 36 years, my mom and I have only a handful of photos that were taken together at various family get-togethers but none of them were professionally done. I want her to have that gift because, well, my mom is the best mom that I could ever imagine having. Even when asking her permission to share this, she said “You know, I’ve always said that I may not agree with you but I’ll always be supportive of you.” That’s my momma!”

CONGRATULATIONS to Donelle and her mother Kathy!!! Here are a few images of them. 🙂

Happy Summer everyone!    If you aren’t on the newsletter sign up list…. make sure you do that before you leave as I’m offering a SUMMER PORTRAIT SPECIAL to those that receive the newsletter. :)Just

You can find the Newsletter Sign up on my the Home Page of my website..   if you can’t find it.. please email me at studio64@arvig.net and I’ll send you a link.