CONDOLENCES – Cincinnati Pet Photographer
Our condolences to the Sawyer and Jones families for their recent losses. We are so thankful that we were able to photograph your beloved Buster and Alex before they passed. We are very sorry for your loss and we hope that your photos will be a continuing reminder of the beautiful spirits that they were. Thank you for entrusting us with their images.
So good to see you two again, even if I was emotional! Buster kind of snuck up on me, but I am good overall. Losing him was hard, but I knew that day would come and that it would probably arrive without much warning. It did, but I am glad that Buster was able to have a quality life right up to the end. As I said during our chat, I have one of your Buster pictures hanging in my bed room and I see it as soon as I open my eyes. Even though I have tons of pictures that I have taken of him over the years, your pictures have a better quality overall and you were able to capture images that showed me his nature, elegance and coolness. I remember your visit…Buster put you through your paces that day! Shortly after Buster passed, it was your photos of him that I went to to find comfort. Now, it is those same pictures that help me remember my happy times with my beloved “Boo”. Thanks again for your great work! Thanks also for your sympathy. At the end of the day, we can count ourselves among the fortunate who have and have had the love of some great animals.
Sue,
I’m so sorry for your loss. Alex, the Sheltie above, was my dog. He meant the world to me. I’d look at him and wonder how I got so lucky. He taught me so much about friendship, patience, responsibility, love and what it means to be a ‘daddy’. He was my pride and joy.
My wife would get upset with me for viewing him over his sisters (Tala the Chocolate Lab and Chita the Siberian Husky) but he was my first pet, we have the same birthday and he’s the Alpha Dog of my heart. I miss him so much and I can’t stop myself from crying. He died so young – only 8 years old – and he should’ve lived to be 15-20…but he lived…I mean he REALLY LIVED. We jogged a mile a day, even the day before he passed away. He was a happy, beautiful boy, he loved life and he was loved immensely.
My heart goes out to you. To some (like me), their pets mean the world to them. Remember the good times and find solace in the fact that your baby is no longer in pain.
Matt & Ashley,
Thank you so much for the work you do! It means a lot to me to have my baby’s last happy weekend to reflect on. Your work is superb. I handed out your cards to people at Petsmart…hopefully you’ll be very busy!
Thank you, Morree, for your kind words. Please accept my condolences for your loss of Alex as well. We share a sad bond of losing our beloved pets too soon. It does sound like Alex was living a good life right up to the end, as was Buster. Despite the pain of loss, we were both lucky to have had our wonderful pets in our lives. I hope that your grieving gets easier as time goes by and that the hole you feel begins to be filled with happiness and love that you felt with Alex. Some people don’t understand how intense the grieving process can be for a lost pet. We do and I think our lives are all the richer for it.
I took some business cards and have been tacking them up on bulletin boards. Handing them out at PetSmart…great call!
The pain is getting easier to deal with…not lesser, but easier to handle. Alex was my baby. I don’t have any human kids, but a life is a life, and when you’re responsible for it and you receive the love that life has to give, it’s just as important…human or animal. Some people say “it’s just a dog/cat”…it’s easy to say that from the outside looking in, but when it’s YOUR animal, it’s not an ordinary animal, but an extraordinary love.
I handed out cards first to people I saw with “I love my (cat/boxer/doberman)” license plate frames, emblems and bumper stickers. I think they’re most likely to care enough to want to get family photos with their pets because they seem to actually view the pet as family and not just a pet or a toy for their human child. They deserve first dibs.
Well put…pets should be more than “just a toy”. I don’t have any children, either. I know that this has helped me focus totally on my animals over the years, but I don’t think that my focus would have been any lesser if I did have children. Some of us “get it”, regarding the value of pets…we are the fortunate ones!
Yes, we definitely are the fortunate ones. I got Alex from a Sheltie rescue. He was a stray and he was very untrusting of humans. He seemed to have been mistreated by people before he was rescued so I spent my life with Alex trying to make him feel like he was safe, loved and treasured above all else. Animal experts teach non-aggressive methods to train your animal to be well behave and respond to you as if to say “how did I get so lucky?”…but we’re the ones who are so much luckier than they are and we learn a much greater lesson in life and love than we could ever teach them. It’s funny how life can be so ironic in that way…
Yes, we definitely are the fortunate ones. I got Alex from a Sheltie rescue. He was a stray and he was very untrusting of humans. He seemed to have been mistreated by people before he was rescued so I spent my life with Alex trying to make him feel like he was safe, loved and treasured above all else. Animal experts teach non-aggressive methods to train your animal to be well behaved and respond to you as if to say “how did I get so lucky?”…but we’re the ones who are so much luckier than they are and we learn a much greater lesson in life and love than we could ever teach them. It’s funny how life can be so ironic in that way…
Matt and Ashley,
Thank you 2 so much for the photos! I was only expecting that: just photos on regular photo paper…I was blown away by the photo BOOK! And my gift, WOW, that was so touching and beautiful! It took me a while to gain my composure. Everything you did for us was above and beyond what I’d expected! You do awesome work, from a quality AND emotional standpoint. This is as close as it gets, in this life, to having him back…and it’s as good as it gets in photographic excellence. He looks so beautiful and full of life and happiness. Your photos show him at his best in the last weekend of his life. I love my baby and I miss him so much. Thank you for capturing vivid, beautiful memories of my son that will last a lifetime. This is closure’s icing on the cake. The work you’ve done is a blessing to my soul!