Moving On: A Story of Love

This story of love is the journey a Cincinnati, Ohio, family is making through life.  A complete cycle; from start to finish and everything in between.  It is a short story of love but already an epic journey, rapidly unfolding over just four and a half short years.   This story of love is about a man and a woman, Ben Nunery and his wife Ali, and their now three year old daughter, Olivia.  Ali is no longer with us, having succumbed to a rare form of lung cancer in 2011 – just 31 years young–leaving behind Ben and their one-year-old daughter, Olivia.

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

“I wanted to be able to show Olivia the place where her mother and I started our lives together and dreamed of raising children.”  – Ben Nunery

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

Young Olivia needed more space to play, so it was time to find a new home.  Ben wanted Olivia to always have the spirit of her mother with her as she grows into the woman she is destined to become.  Ben got together with sister-in-law and professional photographer, Melanie Tracy Pace, and explained his project vision – to capture the joy in their house when Ali was alive helping to keep that spirit of love with them always.

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

“The memories of Ali don’t live in that house, they live with us, in our hearts.” – Ben Nunery

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

These images were recreated by Melanie, who had photographed the couple on their wedding day four and a half years earlier. Melanie’s amazing photos are the result of a family collaborative effort.  Simply stunning work, in concept and in execution.  These photographs tell the powerful, sensitive story in a way that only a family can express.  All photography is copyright Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography.

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

“Many people have asked me how I felt while doing that photo session. What I want them to know is that this isn’t a story about grief and loss and hurt. Yes, I’ve gone through those emotions and still do but that’s not what I want people to see in these photos. This is a story about love.” – Ben Nunery

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

“We said goodbye to Ali two years ago, but her presence has remained undeniable in the house,” Ben wrote. After the photos, father and daughter said goodbye, finding closure, and moving on.

 

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

“Our lives will continue down a curvy and uncertain path, but Olivia and I will be able to look at these photos and know that for a short time there was a place where I was the luckiest man in the world, even if just for a little while.” – Ben Nunery

 

Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography

[via loft3pd.com]

I need to thank Uwe Steinmueller for suggesting this story of love.  Thank you Uwe, and a Merry Christmas to you and Bettina from Suzanne and myself.

This photographic story of love I re-tell here is being re-told in countless viral places around the world.  It is a universal story of love, and a hot one.  A story of love needs no translation, but it can always use amplification.

PLEASE RATE THIS STORY!  [ratings]