I recently had the honor of meeting a very special little girl name Maily. When Jen first heard about her story, she was in tears. I asked her what was wrong and she proceeded to tell me about a hand that a young girl had been dealt. It tugged at my heart strings and I couldn’t even fathom what her parents must have been going through.

Maily is an 8 yr old 3rd grader that was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma just before Christmas. This type of brain tumor cannot be operated on because of the location where it is. You can learn more about DIPG here.

Jen’s cousin knows their family well. Maily and her daughter are on the same swim team that Maily’s brother coaches. Jen’s cousin asked if I would be interested in photographing Maily and her family and I immediately said yes.

When I met Maily and her family right before the session, I really had to hold my composure because the entire situation just broke my heart. I don’t ever recall being this nervous before a session. She has an incredible family and they were all so positive in light of the situation and that gave me the strength to power through trying to capture some images of Maily.

If you have a moment, please send your prayers/positive thoughts to Maily and her family.