Both the ‘then’ and ‘now’ photos were shot by Ali’s sister Melanie. On the left, Melanie’s photo of Ben and his wife Ali on their wedding day in 2009. On the right, Ben and his daughter Olivia in the same doorway, on Dec. 2013.
If there’s one thing common in both these photos, it’s that look of pure love and affection.
Olivia staying close to daddy.
Like mother, like daughter. Olivia playing with the same curling iron her mother Ali used to get ready on her wedding day.
On the left, Ben stands in their empty house in 2009 as his wife Ali comes down the stairs. On the right, he and daughter Olivia play on the same stairs 4 years later.
Ben himself has said about the experience of recreating the photo shoot: “…this isn’t a story about grief and loss and hurt. Yes, I’ve gone through those emotions and still do but that’s not what I want people to see in these photos. This is a story about love.”
“The memories of Ali don’t live in that house,” Ben wrote of his late wife, “They live with us, in our hearts.”
“I wanted to be able to show Olivia the place where her mother and I started our lives together and dreamed of raising children,” – Ben Nunery
Ben dancing with his little daughter.
“Benjamin, you look like a baby!” wrote his photographer sister-in-law, Melanie, on her blog. Funny how things come full circle, don’t they?
Olivia calls the glass angel seen here “Mommy.” Ben and his daughter talk to her and play with her every day.
Hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Ben learned how to play the wedding song he and Ali danced to – Stevie Wonder’s “I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever”) on this ukelele – which was a gift from a friend. “One night in the hospital he used his skills to serenade Ali,” her sister remembers.
“Our lives will continue down a curvy and uncertain path, but Olivia and I will be able to look at these photos and know that for a short time there was a place where I was the luckiest man in the world, even if just for a little while.” – Ben Nunery
If there’s one thing to take away, it’s to treasure the moments you have with your loved ones. Help spread Ben’s message by sharing this article (click one of the buttons below) with the ones that matter to you!
Source: www.today.com | Photo credits: Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography