One day I was browsing Facebook and saw a story shared by Global Calgary that made me stop what I was doing and read it. The story was about this Calgary couple – Dan and Darlene – who have had a lot of bad luck these past 2 years. That included both of them being laid off as they worked in oil and gas, and then shortly after both being diagnosed with cancer, with Dan having a stage 4 throat cancer and having to go through aggressive chemo. On top of that they also had a fire at their family home.
The story literally brought tears to my eyes. It resonated with me, as my husband and I have also lost our jobs due to lay offs, and me tragically losing my brother earlier on March 1. This reminded me of support I got when bad things happened to us (Calgary wedding industry is AMAZING), and how I wanted to give back to this family and community and create beautiful photos for them. And that’s what I love about Calgary – we are there for each other. I was lucky to have an extensive network of friends, one of whom was able to put me in touch with Darlene (thanks Mary!! xo), and I called her right away! Darlene is truly one of the kindest souls I have met and she mentioned that for the past 10 years family photos was all she was asking for for Christmas, and unfortunately they were never a priority. Until now. It was very heart warming to see so much love in this family and family photos was exactly what they needed right now to support each other!
I came to their home and after having a delicious blueberry tea (YUM! thanks Dan!) we started creating their family photos. I had such a blast and I could see they were all having an amazing time, being together. A visit from CTV Calgary was a nice and welcomed addition (and surprise to me! :)) to the photos and I cannot wait for them to tell Dan and Darlene’s story on the news.
“We do love each other” – Darlene (28 years together and married for 26 years!)
Watch full interview here:
Capturing memories for couple battling cancer and unemployment. @CTVKathyLe reports on effort to help family https://t.co/XvzMMobUHg #yyc pic.twitter.com/eXnIettjvy
— CTV Calgary (@CTVCalgary) December 24, 2016