The Passing of the Royal Crown - A Fairytale in Progress | Maris Ehlers Photography

Once upon a time, there was a darling princess named Zoe. She lived in the kingdom of Canada, until the royal family decided to move their castle to Minnesota. Princess Zoe loved it in Minnesota, but after a few years she started to not feel very well.  After a few weeks of wondering, it was discovered that Zoe had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a form of cancer that most often strikes children and teens, and the battle began.  

Zoe fought this battle armed with the grace, courage and strength she found inside herself, and wore the support and encouragement from those who loved her like armor: Impenetrable and unfailing. 

She was winning the war, but had one more fierce battle to go. The court jester decided to take some pictures of the Princess to show the world just how beautiful she really was. 

The result was so surprising. People from near and far, people who knew Princess Zoe and those who had never heard of her before showered her with even more love and support than she thought possible, forging her an invisible crown of protection with their kind words and thoughts, and victory was hers.  

-----

Now you might think this is the end of our little fairy tale, but there is now another chapter to be told. During Princess Zoe's battle, the court jester met another lovely family, this time from the village of St. Michael, Minnesota. This family was celebrating a wedding, and there were many princes and princesses that were all a part of this happy day. 

One of these princesses was a lovely girl named Yvonne, who hails from the Kingdom of St. Paul. With dark hair, and chocolate brown eyes, she was the fairest of the fair in her glittery blue dress and silver shoes, and they all danced the day away. 

In June, the week that Princess Zoe received the news that she had won the battle against her cancer, Princess Yvonne received news that she, in fact, would be gearing up to fight the very same battle that Zoe had just won.  

So on a sunny evening not that long ago (ok, last night), Princess Zoe met with Princess Yvonne at the Court of Hanover, so that the court jester could document how Zoe, with care and kindness passed on the invisible crown of protection given to her by so many good wishes, to help Yvonne fight the battle that she has just begun.  

And so, please consider this your royal invitation to follow along on Yvonne's journey and to prepare to celebrate her happy ending yet to come.  

XOXO to both of these beautiful girls! 

Maris 

Godspeed, Sweet Hellat - Maris Ehlers Photography

What an emotional couple of days.  It has been simply amazing to see everyone's responses to Zoe and her journey.  To see so much love and support has been truly humbling.  I am so proud of her, and so lucky to know her (and her family).

While it would be such a wonderful thing if every cancer story could have a victorious ending as we know Zoe's will, tonight my heart is also in Moorhead with another beautiful girl, Hellat.  

I met Hellat in August of 2011, and there isn't a sweeter, more gentle loving girl around.  Hellat's parents are from Kurdistan, which is in Northern Iraq.  If you can believe this, she was born here in the United States on September 11th, 2001.  I can only imagine what that experience must have been like for her family. I've learned in life that intense sadness and happiness can exist at the same time, and one doesn't take away from the other.  I would think that the day Hellat was born had fear and sadness for what was unfolding in NYC and around the world, but also unbounding joy in her birth. Such a gift she has been, born at a time when it was and is so important for the world to remember the preciousness of every life, from every corner of the globe. Politics and other beliefs aside.

My sister-in-law, Stephanie, has been one of Hellat's teachers, and I heard for years how much Steph adored this little girl. I felt like I knew her long before I met her. When Hellat was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010, I remember how hard it was for Steph to even talk about it.   

Hellat and her family have now gone through so much since then, most of it trying, exhausting and overwhelming. But just like how Zoe's journey has given so much to others, Hellat's has, too.  Steph, of all people, has learned to eat and LOVE all sorts of Kurdish foods while sharing many meals with Hellat and her family this past year.  People from opposites parts of the world have become like family to one another, and that is such a beautiful and wonderful thing. Hellat did that. 

Steph asked if I would photograph Hellat and her family while I was visiting in August.  I was nervous of what it would be like, but what I didn't realize was how difficult it would be to keep smiling while working.  Such a lovely family they are, and their love and care for Hellat was so touching.  Her father, Breen, carried her from room to room, attending to her vigilantly.  Sana, her beautiful and kind mother, was like a gentle breeze with Hellat, touching, rubbing, smiling and loving.  It broke my heart.

The biggest surprise for me was that Hellat, as sick as she was, LOVED having her picture taken, and had a mental list of pictures she wanted.  Her kissing her Dad, her Dad with his arms around her, snuggled with her mother, with her siblings and with her favorite stuffed animals on her pink bed. We did laugh and smile through most of it, and the wisdom in her endless brown eyes said so much more than any language ever could.  

Near the end of our time, her mother had a pink scarf on her head.  Hellat didn't want to wear it because it itched, but she did because her mother wished her to.  Suddenly, Sana kept pulling the front of the scarf over the bottom half of Hellat's face.  At first, Hellat would have none of it, and I wondered what Sana was trying to do.  She would pull it over and then look at me and nod her head, as if to say "Take the picture before she pulls it off!".  Though my attempts to understand were awkward at best, it finally dawned on me, and my hands shook as I lifted my camera. 

I asked Sana, "Would Hellat wear a veil on her wedding day?" 

Sana looked at me solemnly and said "Yes. Yes."  

 It was at that point, perhaps for the first time, that I realized the true power of a photograph. Images stop time, but I had never been asked to create a memory of an event that would never take place. The responsibility of that was enormous, a bit overwhelming, and oh, so very humbling. I am so grateful to have captured this beautiful girl. So although she didn't know me, Hellat and her family gave me a gift that I will treasure forever, to be able to truly understand the importance of documenting a memory, and knowing that it is so much more than capturing a moment.

Tonight, sweet Hellat nears the end of her journey here. Surrounded by people she knows and loves, her family's Kurdish customs as well as their new found American ones, I imagine she is in the same hospital she was born at in 2001, and once again, they find themselves awash with intense grief and fear of the unknown. Yet the joy they have in their hearts from having, knowing and loving Hellat for these short ten and a half years cannot be denied.

Godspeed, Sweet Hellat. May these next hours bring you much peace.  

Zoe's Story - Hodgkin's Lymphoma | Maris Ehlers Photography

Dress by Mestad's Formal Wear

I don't think I need to start this post off with the "life's not fair" line.  For one reason or another, most of us already know this is true.  

We know that jobs and relationships don't always last forever, and times can get tougher than we might have imagined. Sometimes, when life seems just about perfect, there's a sucker punch up ahead that we won't have seen coming. That's the way life is. 

We look for the good, keep the bad at bay where we can, and let the mundane balance out the rest. And in the end, we realize that flaws and all -  life is pretty good.  

But today as you read this, I want you to think about something. While many 17 year old girls in the middle of their senior year in high school will wake up tomorrow morning with the pressures and joys that they have in their lives, at least one girl here in Minnesota will be preparing for yet another hospital stay, and will be preparing for her third round of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy will bring about days and weeks in which she will not feel well enough to do much of anything.  This third round will be the most challenging and the most intense, but our hope and prayers are that it also brings her cure. 

So just how rough will your Monday morning be?

I first met Zoe when her mother Barb contacted me about photographing her senior portraits this past summer. Zoe is a senior at MGSH, and so we met on a sunny summer afternoon for her session. Angel and I were immediately captivated by her sweet smile and this funny shy little giggle that she has. Those of you who know Zoe know EXACTLY what I am talking about! 

Barb, Zoe and her sister Rachel were all so sweet.  We really enjoyed our afternoon with them, and to say that Zoe is gorgeous is a complete understatement. She really is, and as a photographer, I can't help but appreciate that! 

I watched (mostly through facebook), Zoe enjoy the rest of her summer and start her senior year.  Pictures of her with friends, on outings and at  school events - typical senior year stuff was posted, and as with most of my clients, I enjoyed being able to see little snippets of what she was up to.  All was well. 

And then the sucker punch came. 

Zoe's mom emailed me just after Christmas to tell me that Zoe had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, and wanted to know if they could get some of her senior photos to put on her Caring Bridge site. I was dumbstruck. Sweet, giggly Zoe? How could that be?  

Since then, I have read every guest post and every journal entry on her Caring Bridge site, and have been surprised at times that I have felt so attached to Zoe and her family's struggle, especially since I really only saw Zoe in person a couple of times. 

However, as the person who captured her senior portraits, I have literally spent hours upon hours with Zoe. :) Proofing pictures, editing, posting, editing some more, ordering and printing. Whenever I finish with a client's portraits, I feel like I have a stake in who they are and what they are about. With Zoe it was no different, except that she made it so easy to be utterly charmed by her sweet smile and kind and gentle ways.  

"Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.

- Unknown

When it worked out that Zoe was willing to let me photograph her as she is today, in the middle of treatment, I was literally thrilled. Not because I wanted to push Zoe beyond her comfort zone (I imagine she's had more than enough of that of late), but because I wanted to create an opportunity for her to embrace the being that she is today - just as she is right in this moment. While we all can’t wait for this to be over for Zoe, I want to stop time in this moment so it will be here for her later when she is ready to relive it in her memories.  

Dress by Mestad's Formal Wear

What I want for Zoe, whether it be now, tomorrow, in a few days when she feels terrible due to her treatment or many years from now when she is living a happy and full life, that she will be able to look back at this moment and recognize her true strength and beauty, as the rest of us see it. Not just from a memory, but from an actual reflection of herself, in the form of real photographs. 

I imagine that she is learning a lot about herself these days, and I bet that she is constantly surprising herself and her family with her ability to adapt and cope along this journey. 

I am so incredibly proud of Zoe for allowing herself to be, feel and look vulnerable, especially in front of a camera with images that will go near and far. Vulnerability is indeed one of life's greatest gifts, and while it often comes from tragedy, heartbreak or trauma, it is what allows us to reach outside ourselves and connect in meaningful ways with the world around us. Zoe is living that right now, and you can see it in these images. 

There are many more lovely images from our time together that we won't be posting now, because in the weeks to come we will be working on a project that Zoe is helping us with that we hope you all will consider participating in.  

As I mentioned earlier, tomorrow Zoe goes in for her third round of chemotherapy today. Please take a moment and say a prayer or send a kind thought along for Zoe and her family during this difficult time. 

Zoe, thank you so much for trusting me. I hope you can truly feel the love from the people and communities who care for you. 

Hugs, 

Maris 

Special Thanks To: 

Mestads - what a great selection of amazing prom dresses!  They were kind enough to lend us three different and gorgeous gowns for Zoe's shoot…  Thank you! 

Makeup:  Jamie Duncanson

Styling:  Dawn Fryxell of Lucky Girl Jewels and Styling

Assisted by:  Angel Petit of Maris Ehlers Photography