“Daniel, Happy 20th Birthday!! I love you so very much and know that whatever you decide to do with your life, you will be amazing at it. I am so proud to call you my cousin, friend, and brother in Christ. I hope you have an amazing semester. I am always here for you if you ever want to talk or just want someone to do something crazy with. -Dalta”
     Five months after receiving this note, I was sitting around a campfire enjoying life with a group of friends. We were eating s'mores, joking about life. My phone buzzed. and I looked down to see this message, "Dalta was in a car crash. She's gone." Gone... 

because we need never forget

     Although I will probably never meet the photographer who captured this image of Dalta, I will forever be thankful for her. To me, it's more than a wonderfully captured senior portrait. This is my cousin, a woman who loved others so unbelievably well. Who encouraged me to pursue medicine when I didn't have the confidence to believe I could. Who set me up on blind dates. Who was on track to become one of the best officers the air force had ever known. Who saw the person I would become far before I did. When I look at this image, I remember Dalta.
     Here and now won't be around for long. Soon enough time will roll through and take the people we hold dear, leaving us with fading memories and whatever images we were lucky enough to grab along the way. Images of moments worth remembering. The tears. The smiles. The kisses. The love. We capture these photographs so that when the time comes, although we may never meet the photographers who took them, we need never forget the people we love.

PC: The Blink Lady