Dave + Carol // To Have And To Hold For Better Or Worse // Ashland, Ohio

UPDATE: Since so many of you were so kind to leave such loving messages and notes for Dave, I wanted to give you a little update about where things are now. Carol passed away on January 3, 2019. Dave wanted me to let you all know that he is so deeply grateful and feels so loved by all of your sweet sweet words. I can’t thank you all enough for everything!

Everyone has a story, they all start and end differently, no two are alike.

This story is hard for me to tell, but I want to tell it, I need to.

I want you to meet Dave and Carol! Dave and I met on the same trip that Brandon and I met in Cambodia in 2010. Shortly after I met Carol. These two are incredible human beings, humble and filled with joy even through suffering. I guess I should give you a little back story.

On a September afternoon I got a call from Dave, we had just landed in Denver, CO for a wedding. I answer the phone while we are waiting for our luggage. Within a few seconds I knew something wasn’t quite right, just by the sound of his voice. Moments later Dave tells me what is going on.

Carol, his wife of many years and mom to their wonderful children has a degenerative brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it’s rare and takes over the brain quickly, there’s no way to stop it and normally doesn’t end well. Just a week before she was fine, then suddenly it took over and hasn’t loosened it’s grip. I was in shock as I could hear Dave gracefully loosing it on the other side of the phone. The next thing he asked was if I could come and take photos of him and Carol before it’s too late. I said “YES!” of course and as soon as we were back from Colorado we drove up to Ashland to see them and take photos.

I asked if they could pull out some of their old photos at the end of our time together, so I could see who they were when they were younger, when they got married and when they had kids. To sift through the joyful times in their lives was a indicator of how much love they have for one another and what a wonderful life they have lived out on this earth as husband and wife.

It’s so hard to see someone you love and care about going through such a hard and difficult thing. In these moments I realize what an honor and almost a responsibility it is to tell the story of peoples lives and the love they hold for one another. It’s moments like these that matter the most to me.

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