CONGRATULATIONS 2013 SENIORS!

It's that time again!  It's graduation!  I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown.  

I'd like to thank the 2013 Seniors who represented Sue Ables Photography.  What a phenomenal group! I believe I enjoyed all of you more than any other year of graduating Seniors.  

I want to wish good luck to:

Nick, who is leaving for boot camp soon.  We are so very proud of you! Nick will then be attending Pittsburg State for college with his siblings.

Emily and Amy will be joining the Gorilla nation also.  Pittsburg will be on fire this year!

Breanna has a jump start on everyone by already attending JUCO, getting her basics taken care of and hopefully heading up K10 soon to attend KU!  (ROCK CHALK)

Joe is heading to Aggieville and attending K State.  Keep an eye on Joe. He is an incredible artist and will rock this world!

I will miss you all so much!  Keep in touch....

Stay tuned for the 2014 Seniors soon...  All signs tell me this group will be just as awesome!

        

Ten Years Later... (A Note to Jake and Dylan)

                                              Stu with Jake and Dylan Labor Day 2001

  Its' difficult to believe it's been 10 years since the 9/11 attacks.  It is for us, who witnessed it on our TV screens, watching the city and Towers we love be attacked so brutally.  For many, it's been a long 10 years.  Loved ones killed, having to raise a family without spouse, children growing up without their parent(s).  It breaks my heart.

     Approximately six years ago, bloggers who wished to participate were given a name of one of the victims to write a Tribute.  The name randomly selected for me was Stuart Meltzer.  He was 32 years old and had a young family he loved very much.  He was on the 105th floor working at Cantor Fitzgerald when the the North Tower was hit.  His wife, Lisa, was left to raise their sons Jake age 3 and Dylan still an infant.  Each year I repost the Tribute to Stu.  When returning to legacy.com each September, I see there are always new posts.  Thoughts for the family and memories of Stu.  I can feel his brother Ken's pain writing his message to Stu every year.  Reading these has left an indelible mark on me.  The senselessness of his death.  His family left behind.  Lisa, Jake, and Dylan have been in my thoughts and prayers ever since.  Honestly, they pop up in my head at random times during the day, on holidays, wondering how they are doing.  Are the boys okay?  I cry.  I pray.  I want to know that they are doing all right.

This year, I received my answer.  I'm so thankful that Rachel Meltzer contacted me after seeing the Tribute I reposted last year.  It was truly a gift from heaven to hear from her.

                                                   Larry coaching Jake's baseball team

Stu's sons Jake (13) and Dylan (10) are doing well.  These boys and their mother are doing well due to the strong family surrounding them.  Stu's brother, Larry, almost immediately took it upon himself to be their in Stu's place for the boys.  Coaching baseball teams and taking them to Boston Red Sox games (I'm convinced Stu was their biggest fan).  He has been there for Stu's wife Lisa when she was in need.  It seems the family all moved to Long Island to help Lisa with raising her sons.  What an incredible family.

                                                Larry Meltzer with his nephew Jake


Rachel's words tell it best:

 "I humbly submit that my husband has been the most incredible person I know in his unwavering singular support and love of Stu's boys since that time.  He is a star in my eyes and a rare individual in the eyes of so so many in this community.


Plenty of people were 'committed' to the children and widows after 9/11.  But time passes and people forget and move on.  Not Larry, he has put his whole life focus on honoring his brother's memory.  He is a center of the Syossett Baseball Association and has coached the oldest nephew Jake, since the time of Stu's passing just about -- came out every weekend nearly from NJ in the first few years, then in 2007, we all moved here (including his parents from Cape Cod) to be near to the boys.  Larry not only mentors those boys, but is always there when Lisa (Stu's widow) needs a helping hand in any way.  Stu would be immensely proud of Larry, and in life, they were absolute inseparable best friends in a way that is rare and beautiful to see.  The Meltzer family is a baseball family and through the coaching and Larry's commitment to SBA and taking Jake and Dylan to Red Sox and local Mets games, he keeps this alive.  Stu pitched in college at University of Michigan and was a great athlete.  Larry too played in college and still plays in a competitive over 40 league.  Not only does Larry do for those boys we love, but I feel his example of how valued his brother's memory is is a testament to what it means to prize family.  Our family, our 4 children, see every day what defines a commitment to family.  The world doesn't put their money where their mouth is often enough and family gets a lot of lip service but not follow up action and reality.  Larry is steadfast and inspiring.  That's my take and what I can offer that others may not have perspective on.... "

     In the recent article, Jake recalled hearing about the death of Osama Bin Laden.  It was on the day of his Bar Mitzvah.  Uncanny, eh?  Jake felt it was a gift from his dad on this special day.  His mom, Lisa, stated, "He feels like his father gave him that gift.  It was a milestone in Jake's life.  It was as if Stu wanted to say 'I'm here.  This is my gift to you.'"

                                            Larry and Rachel Meltzer with Jake and Dylan

                                          

    

  Jake and Dylan are members of Tuesday's Children which is a non profit organization for all the children of 9/11.   Jake searches the internet looking for something about his dad that he didn't know already.  The boys do not remember much of their dad.  They were so young!  Well, Jake and Dylan, I did not know your dad personally, but I sure wish I did.  From reading all of the comments by his friends, I admire him greatly.  I admire your mom for being so strong for you.  I admire your dad's family for 'stepping up to the plate' and being their for you.  Speak with your dad's friends since childhood.  Hear all the stories they tell.  Write them down.  Don't forget any of them.  Collect photos of your dad.  Look at the pictures some of his friends keep on their desks to this day as a reminder of their good friend, Stu.  The more you see and hear, the closer you will feel to him.  Know that your dad is looking over all of you.  He's always there.  He never really left.  Talk to him frequently.  

                                                        Larry Meltzer with Jake and Dylan

                                                        

    

 Honestly, Jake and Dylan, to know your dad's true character, integrity, and knowing what to truly value in life, you only need look as far as your family.  Look to your mom, your grandparents, and your Uncle Larry who seems to be a mirror of your father.  Know that one day you will see your dad again.  Until then, you have an angel and warrior watching over you.

     If anyone happens to be in New York, specifically Long Island Saturday September 10th, there is a Memorial Softball Game for Stu.  

Stuart Todd Meltzer
at a Memorial Softball Game
Saturday, September 10th
11a.m. game time
Syosset Woodbury Park
Long Island, New York
hosted by Stu’s Family

RSVP to rachel@meltzerteam.com

    To everyone reading this post, time has passed and we all go on with our very busy lives.  Remember, it's not so easy for everyone who lost someone on 9/11.  Yes time goes on, but there is still a gaping hole in their lives. Don't forget them.  You can watch all the television specials on this 10th Anniversary, but I felt more of what the families are going through by reading Edith Lutnick's new book.  Cantor Fitzgerald lost nearly 700 of their 'family'. Their fight continues to this day.  

Latest Sessions {Child, Family, Senior Photographer Kansas City}

Social media today is becoming insane.  The combination of Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc, it's easy to keep up on what is happening with everyone you know.  Hence, this poor blog has been horribly ignored.

So, it's time to update all of you on the latest of the kiddie sessions!

First up is sweet Emersyn.  Her little personality is blooming!

While in Chicago visiting my daughter, I had the chance to play with these two gems.  Tyler, I think you had way too much fun after the heavy rains!

The first of the new little babies this year.  These two girls are so precious!  I have known their mom since she was little girl and hard to believe she is has two children of her own.  Where does the time go.

This group is growing up too quickly also.  I believe it's easy to see we are related.

And little Taylor.  Remember her One Year Old session?  yeah.  This girl is a ham for the camera now!  She knows how to work it.

Sweet Zoey.  She was such a little trooper in the horrible heat!  Within 30 minutes, the poor thing was soaked.  Next year when she is three, she will be hamming it up like Taylor!

 And this crew...  What can I say?  This is what happens when it's too hot to do anything at all.  You jump over to my house and have a little fun!  I could have done this all day long...

That's all for now, but Maddie is coming up next week and I am super excited to see her!  Hopefully the heatwave will give us a break, so I can get all the Senior Reps done and posted.  2012 Seniors are going to be awesome this year (as always).

If you are wanting to schedule your session, give me a shout!  School will begin soon and time will be short for all.

Reflections

     Everyone has a purpose when they are brought into this world.  Some people know at a young age what they are born to be.  Others, not so much.  I was in the 'not so much' category.   Winter is so tough on my psyche.  No studio to work in over the months.  No sense of purpose.   This winter was no exception.  As I crawled under my blanket, I began to really think about what is wrong with me!  The light bulb turned on and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  When I received my 'pink slip' (the girls grew up), I truly lost my career.  I was born to be a mom.  Period.

     I believe that's why I love photography so much!  Catching all your little ones as they are.  Catching images of them as you will remember them when you are in my shoes.  You will look at your daughter as she walks down the aisle and think, "how did this happen so fast!"  "I want to go back.  I want to do it all again.  I want to cherish every laugh, smile, antic, even every whine, tear, and temper tantrum!"  I am reliving my life as a 'mom' through you and your children.  And the Seniors!  The hopes, dreams, faith, and love that holds for your future is shining through you and makes my heart smile!  

    Even though I'm not a full time mom now, I have all of you and my sweet adorable grandchildren.  This sweet little girl today makes my heart leap for joy when she walks in the front door!  

 I look forward to a visit from my "Texas Tornado" Jaden who turns 8 this week!  I look forward to the grandchildren to come (no pressure guys).   I look forward to cuddling with the new addition in our extended family!  I look forward to 2011 and seeing all of you!  I hope to have a mini studio in my home by summer for the rainy days and winter months.  

   I suppose this is a thank you.  Thank you to my daughters for continuing to 'need' me.  Thank you to all their childhood friends who share their families with me now.  Thank you to my grandchildren who give their love unconditionally.  Thank you to all my wonderful customers for sharing their families with me.  Thank you to the Seniors... you keep me young.  Thank you for giving me a purpose again.  

A Little Bit of Everything { Kansas City Photographer}

 
Today I'm going to catch up on what's happening!  My last few posts have been about dear, wonderful people fighting the Big C.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  I know Matt and Hollie, along with their families will appreciate it!   More Hollie updates will be coming.  I believe she is in her fourth week of chemotherapy now.

  On September 17, The Great Midwest Balloon Festival arrived in Overland Park!  This was their first year and judging by the tremendous turn out, I know this is going to be successful in the future!  This is a charity event with all proceeds going to Hospice and other various charities.  There were 38 pilots the first year.   The musicians donated their time for the festival also.  Naturally, Pat was there and he opened up the festival with his solo playing.  They didn't kick him off the stage, so that's always a good thing.

  I am setting up Mini Sessions for the end of October and first part of November.  If you haven't had a family portrait done in awhile, you need one!   Christmas is just around the corner and prints make wonderful gifts, as well as those Christmas Cards that need to sent out to family and friends!   The times are booking quickly, so let me as soon as possible if you are interested.

  I think the rest of this post will be a few pictures from my latest sessions.  Not everything is posted on Facebook, because believe it or not, there are people that are not on Facebook.   :)

  These are few from the Great Midwest Balloon Festival.

Lauren (my favorite model) came to see Uncle Pat play

Pat doing what he does best... JT on that Olson guitar

Annie and Hollie (looking for beer)

A few of my favorites from recent sessions...

 

Seriously, if you're home needs some deep cleaning, call Greenway Home Cleaning.   Dee will take care of it!

Natalie is a 2011 Senior that does whatever I tell her.  I love her.  

I do love this image of Audrey (2011 Senior)

Ashley (another 2011 Senior) from Perry/Lecompton High School.  What more is there to say?    Awesome young lady.

Be sure to find the 2011 Seniors to get your freebies!!!  



What would a blog post be without the munchkins!?

Zoey's new smile! 

Maddie picking flowers and Justin Bieber's biggest fan!

Seriously.  Steve McQueen clone right here.

This sweetheart gave me 'attitude' and rocked it the entire session!

   Will post some of my favorites from upcoming sessions soon!

Taking It All Off!

Sunday was a big day!  Only the most incredible people were allowed to attend the event!  Parrot felt particularly honored to have been asked to be there for the long anticipated 'going bare' day.

Hollie has been feeling well, but the chemo effects are beginning.  It was time for the event everyone, especially her eldest daughter Brooke, had been anticipating.  Take one last look.  This is the last time you will see this head of hair for about 2 years.

Of course, she really didn't have far to go.  Her hair is so short already.  :)  Her girls, Brooke and Kennedy ran their fingers through her hair one last time!  Although, I think Brooke enjoyed more than Kennedy.

Hair stylist extraordinaire, Jeanne, prepped for the first phase by putting the clips in place and preparing the... CLIPPERS.

     Brooke took the first swipe at mom's head.  Now, Brooke is not a teenager, so I know this is her way of taking this chapter "head on" in her way... or maybe she just wanted to use the clippers??

And so it went.  Brooke was really getting into this 'head shaving' thing as mom longingly looked at her mane in her hands and saying goodbye... for now.

Now, anyone who has even met this gal KNOWS this could not be just a SIMPLE ceremonial shaving of her head. 

 She needed to take advantage of the opportunity to rock the style she has secretly dreamed of sporting.  I do believe Brooke was truly getting into this head shaving thing. 

    

                                                                                                                                                  

 Yep, Brooke took full advantage and felt the power with those clippers in her hand.

Hollie's husband, Gary, had his request also.  And yes, this was his shave style request before it all came off.

                     (Insert redneck joke here)

When all was said and done.  Brooke had finished the task of shearing her mother completely bald and she did an awesome job!  Hollie actually looked FABULOUS!  

She is TOTALLY GI JANE!!     

Brooke suggested she wear a scarf on her head for her soccer game.  Scarves are so stylish now.  

 

I don't know.  Pretty good look for Hollie, don't you think?  Brooke and I broke out singing "It's a Hard Knock Life" at this point.   Maybe she needs a 'different' scarf.  

No matter how you look at this, Hollie just looks fabulous bald!  She only needs wigs live out her fantasies of having long hair and to keep her head warm in the upcoming winter months!  Hollie TOTALLY ROCKS BALD!    

 

Totally Wigged Out! {Kansas City Portrait Photographer}

     Today, Hollie received her second round of chemo.  After her first round last week, no extreme ill effects.  She tires easily and wants to sleep A LOT!  It will probably be a few weeks before she loses her head, I mean hair, but it's never too early to prepare! Wednesday morning, she had an appointment with incredible Patty at Brian Joseph's to choose her new look for the next year and a half. Since, Hollie has very short and very thin hair, she was excited to try on the alter egos that surrounded us in the lovely shop.  Much of the time, I just felt like I was being watched by a hundred eyes. Patty has a pretty amazing selection of wigs and products for women battling cancer. I was blown away with everything available from eyebrow/eyelash cream to help keep them during treatment to creams for the burns that occur with radiation therapy. Amazing.  It's come a LONG way since I worked in Radiation Therapy 30 years ago.  (did I just admit that?)

Patty also has pretty shiny things in her shop which just brightened the whole place up and made me smile.  Girls do love pretty shiny things.

     I had no idea there was SO much to know about wigs!  Synthetic vs human hair, hand woven vs machine stitched and on and on.  So much to think about and consider!  

After soaking up all this information, the fun began!  First the nylon cap since she hasn't lost her hair yet.
The discussion of 'bald caps' then popped up.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Hollie next wearing a 'bald cap' just for fun and grins!

    At this point, the real entertainment begins!  Hollie has very thin and very short hair.  You know you always want what you can't have when it comes to hair.  If you have curly, you want straight.  If you have short, you want long.  She can have ANYTHING she wants!  The possibilites were endless....

until she began trying them on.  So here are the different faces of Hollie as you probably have not seen before!


     Here we have the Elvira look.  Long, layered, and black.  It's really, really strange seeing this gal with very long black hair when she usually has short spiky purple hair.  So, on we went to the next one...

    They say 'Blondes have more fun', but 'they' have obviously not met Hollie.  This is what Hollie would like as a teenage blonde.  ha.

Just because she is a soccer mom, does not mean she wants to look like one!  Cannot imagine her EVER looking like this for long.  Way too normal.  :)

     This is hair longer than she has ever been able grow on her head her entire life.  I was pretty sure she was going to choose this one no matter what.  What girl at some point in her life wants long luxurious hair without it being a tee shirt hanging from your head??  

     Jennifer Aniston is adorable and we all secretly would like to look like her, right???  This is as close as Hollie will get.  Nice.  Not to 'normal', but not purple and spikey.   Good look for her!

With this wig, she's ready to grab her guitar and hop in the VW bus.  Woodstock or bust!

Then she saw it.  Grabbed it.  Put it on.  Not only is it luxurious long hair, but she became J-Lo instantly! Hairbrush sufficed as microphone and she demonstrated her ROCK STAR skillz.  Oh yeah.  Definitely, J-Lo.

    It seemed as if she had chosen the two wigs to live with for the next couple of years.  One luxurious long hair wig and the 'Jennifer Aniston' style.  We headed to the desk to get all instructions and more goop needed help with all the side effects soon to come from therapy when we spied what seemed to be a beam of light from heaven in the next room.  We looked up and it's as if the angels sang.  There it was.  The wig that was Hollie.  We looked at each other and it was that 'Oh Yeah' look.

JOAN JETT!  The moment she put that wig on, we knew it was the one!  Now she is a total and complete ROCK STAR!  She has always wanted Joan Jett hair.  Now she has it.  What a glorious day!!

She is one happy gal.  Joan Jett and long luxurious hair she has never had in her life!  She was totally ready to rock her new style as we left Brian Joseph's two hours later.  Great choices girl.

I do hope your chemo went well today.  Hang in there.  Only two more years and new boobies!