Jeremiah had a devastating brain tumor and the family asked that portraits be taken. These were taken the day before he died as he cuddled with his mother. Around the room we were surrounded by pictures of him taken in his healthier days.
When I arrived at this home on the day before Easter, I was greeted by a very tired and tearful mother and ushered into the family room that had been turned into Jeremiah’s hospice room. Surrounded by snapshots of the boy in his happy, healthier state taken at Disneyland, on the first day of school, at Grandma’s house, I settled in to capture these last images of Jeremiah. Before we could have the session, though, his mother had to carefully administer his morphine to dull the pain of his encroaching brain tumor. He insisted that his mother hold him while the medicine was administered and stay there until the drug took effect. Mercifully, the medicine worked quickly and he fell into a light sleep. His mother stayed in her cuddled position, looking at her frail son, holding his hand and worrying about the future. Her tears fell freely until she finally gave in and rested her head to sleep as well. Jeremiah died the next day.