A Portrait of Love
Photography session helps family make lasting memories
On a piano in Sally's home sits a recent addition: framed photographs capturing her family, including teen-age daughter Ruthie, a patient in the care of Pikes Peak Hospice. It’s been seven years since the last family portraits were taken.
"Every time I look at them I am in awe," Sally says. "My heart is so warm and comforted and overjoyed."
The professional photo session, which took place in Sally’s front yard, was offered as part of Making Memories, a program of Pikes Peak Hospice that offers meaningful outings or experiences for hospice patients and their loved ones that may not otherwise occur without special coordination and financial support.
The program is funded solely by donors to Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation.
Ruthie is immunocompromised, so outings are rare beyond church on Sundays. Bringing photographer Allison Daniel to the family home made the day possible.
"(Allison) did such a good job of making it about us and the trees in our yard, and making it convenient," Sally says. "It made me and my family feel loved."
Sally is mother to 11 children: six biological and five adopted, all with special needs. Four still live at home. Ruthie joined the family just before her fifth birthday. She suffered brain damage as a baby, and doctors warned she might not live to see 10. She’s outlived that prognosis by seven years and counting.
For many years, Ruthie received palliative care. Then her doctor asked Sally whether it might be time to consider hospice.
"I was scared to hear the word 'hospice,'" Sally says. "But all my fears were dispelled." In pediatric hospice, patients can receive concurrent care, meaning hospice services are provided while also continuing certain treatments.
What Sally found was support she hadn't known she needed. "My burdens have been eased," she says. "Everybody has been so sweet, so kind, so loving."
She speaks warmly of nurse Kim in particular. "She doesn't make me feel rushed. Everyone lets me talk." The message from the care team, she says, has always been clear: We're here not only for Ruthie, but for you and the family.
"I feel like they're family members, and I need that right now," Sally says. "You're filling a need I didn't even know I had. To know I have support is so meaningful and so precious."
The portraits have traveled beyond the piano. Copies went to Ruthie's grandparents, and one was even shared with a family doctor. For Sally, pictures carry what words cannot. "Pictures are better than a written word," she says.
She also keeps another treasure close: a recording of Ruthie's heartbeat made by Pikes Peak Hospice’s music therapist. "I have it everywhere, even on my phone. I can listen any time."
When she talks about the photographs, Sally struggles to find words big enough. "They mean more than I can put into words. It's so meaningful and so precious."
Go Back "Every time I look at them I am in awe," Sally says. "My heart is so warm and comforted and overjoyed."
The professional photo session, which took place in Sally’s front yard, was offered as part of Making Memories, a program of Pikes Peak Hospice that offers meaningful outings or experiences for hospice patients and their loved ones that may not otherwise occur without special coordination and financial support.
The program is funded solely by donors to Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation.
Ruthie is immunocompromised, so outings are rare beyond church on Sundays. Bringing photographer Allison Daniel to the family home made the day possible.
"(Allison) did such a good job of making it about us and the trees in our yard, and making it convenient," Sally says. "It made me and my family feel loved."
Sally is mother to 11 children: six biological and five adopted, all with special needs. Four still live at home. Ruthie joined the family just before her fifth birthday. She suffered brain damage as a baby, and doctors warned she might not live to see 10. She’s outlived that prognosis by seven years and counting.
For many years, Ruthie received palliative care. Then her doctor asked Sally whether it might be time to consider hospice.
"I was scared to hear the word 'hospice,'" Sally says. "But all my fears were dispelled." In pediatric hospice, patients can receive concurrent care, meaning hospice services are provided while also continuing certain treatments.
What Sally found was support she hadn't known she needed. "My burdens have been eased," she says. "Everybody has been so sweet, so kind, so loving."
She speaks warmly of nurse Kim in particular. "She doesn't make me feel rushed. Everyone lets me talk." The message from the care team, she says, has always been clear: We're here not only for Ruthie, but for you and the family.
"I feel like they're family members, and I need that right now," Sally says. "You're filling a need I didn't even know I had. To know I have support is so meaningful and so precious."
The portraits have traveled beyond the piano. Copies went to Ruthie's grandparents, and one was even shared with a family doctor. For Sally, pictures carry what words cannot. "Pictures are better than a written word," she says.
She also keeps another treasure close: a recording of Ruthie's heartbeat made by Pikes Peak Hospice’s music therapist. "I have it everywhere, even on my phone. I can listen any time."
When she talks about the photographs, Sally struggles to find words big enough. "They mean more than I can put into words. It's so meaningful and so precious."