I met Jen several months ago when she became manager of the Starbucks near my home.  If you know me at all, you probably know that I seldom indulge in the common female vices of weekly manicures, monthly hair color touch-ups or the like.  Rather, my little indulgence is a Starbucks venti peppermint white mocha most mornings.  And so…needless to say, I am one of the faces that “my” Starbucks knows well, and they know my drink when I walk in the door.

I got to know Jen just a bit more when, a few months back, my daughter started working there, and Jen and I talked a bit more regularly.  When I told her that I would love to photograph her, she immediately jumped on the opportunity, and we began stylizing her shoot.  She shared with me her story, and why this shoot was important to her.  In summary, this summer will be her 10th wedding anniversary to Chris, the love of her life.  In celebration of this, she wanted images to reflect their special story and love, and has given me permission to share that story with you.

Like many, Jen married her high-school sweetheart.  He was a fella she thought was worthy of her love and devotion, but found in short order, that her faith in her mate was poorly placed when he became abusive.  When he physically threatened her life, she made the difficult decision to leave and start anew.  Jen had met Chris through work connections, and they just clicked right away.  She says he “had her at ‘hello'” and you can see it when you watch them interact.  Jen told me “I was so in love and it felt so nice for someone to tell me I was beautiful and open the car door for me. I felt like his queen. We got married on the beach barefoot shortly after and immediately started trying to have a baby. I learned that would not be so easy. With the help of doctors and a lot of emotions I was finally pregnant. My life felt like a fairy tale.” Chris to had had a failed marriage … but that marriage had gifted him with a precious little girl.  Along the way, Chris made the difficult decision to allow his ex-wife’s new husband to adopt his daughter, but this left a deep emptiness in his heart.  His sacrifice for the little girl he loved was deep.

Over the past 10 years, life has had its ups and downs for Chris and Jen.  Chris has had to deal with deep depressions resulting from giving up his daughter, and from a difficult family life growing up.  He also has had compounding back problems which, in time, led to long and painful surgeries which removed the awful pain, but rendered him unable to work, or play music…which is something he loves dearly.  Shortly before he lost the ability to play, Jen had saved up and bought him a beautiful white guitar.  So, she brought that along and included it in some of the images…to capture that forever for her husband.

I enjoyed my time with Jen this week…and getting to know more about how their devotion to one another has resulted in a deeply committed love for each other. Thank you Jen, for sharing your time, your story and your love for your sweet family, with me!