Be more like Wendy…

Written by Carla

If you’ve followed Kingshill Studios for a while, you’ll know that in June last year, life as we knew it changed forever.

As we approach the 3rd of June 2023, it still feels very surreal to me what happened almost one year ago.

I was sitting at my kitchen table for my usual day of work, albeit on a chair I don’t usually sit on, and received a call to tell me I had to cancel Susan’s sessions for the remainder of that day. At that point I didn’t know why, but I could tell by the phone call it was for a reason I’d soon wish weren’t true.

I later found out that day that Susan’s youngest sister, Wendy, had tragically passed away. And I knew I had to pull up my socks and take care of things on behalf of Susan for the foreseeable. 

It was a moment in my life where I experienced true shock, disbelief, and a feeling in my stomach I still can’t quite describe. I called my mum to say I’d need her to watch my daughters longer than my usual working day but I couldn’t quite get the words out.

I was heartbroken.  Not only is Susan my ‘boss’ but she’s become a very good friend and in our five years of working together we have formed a close relationship much stronger than a ‘workmate’ one. 

As a sister myself, I can’t even begin to imagine how the last year has been for Susan and her family. There have been happy memories shared, tears of sadness that feel like they might never end and grief that you expect to only see in films, or much, much later in your lifetime.

Susan expected a big year last year as she had turned 50 in the months prior to Wendy’s passing, making herself a bucket list of all she wanted to achieve. 

Instead, she’s had to navigate her way through a new path of life. Picking herself up from rock bottom, quite literally.

And with that being said I want to express my thanks to each and every one of you who have come into the studio since. A gentle smile, a soft embrace and words of encouragement. They all mean so much.

You may be wondering what this post is for and I promise it is not for pity or to evoke sadness. I want it to encourage you.

Wendy loved photos, I don’t think there are words for how much Wendy loved photos. There are thousands which her family have come across this past year. Moments of child-birth, school memories, hobbies, singing, dancing and not to mention the many, many holidays. She really loved to travel. And she’s there, with her family, beaming from ear to ear in her memories.

And in those photos, there is no thought about what’s going on in the background of the photos, how she looked or what others might have thought about her. 

What she did care about was being in the photos.

So I want to encourage you to be a bit more like Wendy. Because she’d tell you to get in the picture.

You don’t even have to book a photographer, just use your phone, it has a self-timer. Just please be on the other side.

Because I’ve seen first-hand how much joy those photos have brought Wendy’s family this last year.

Don’t wish for more portraits when it’s too late.

Take the pictures now.