This afternoon was absolutely gorgeous. When I got to Enatai Beach Park in Bellevue, the sun was strong and low in the southeastern sky. There were only few people in the park, but a bald eagle soared over nearby trees possibly looking for migrating salmon in the lake. I was there to photographed Sora, an 11 year old European Boxer, who has late stage cancer.
Sora’s mom, Michelle, founded AHELP, the Animal Hospice and End-of-Life Palliative Care Project, after previously losing two boxers to cancer. More about Michelle and AHELP in future posts. We have had Sora’s photo session scheduled for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, in the past few days Sora has taken a turn for the worse. She had a seizure last night, and today it took quite an effort for Michelle to get her to the location. Once there, Sora was beautiful and happy, and the light was perfect. We knew her energy would fade quickly, so I worked fast to get as many shots of her as I could. Unfortunately, playing at the beach took a lot out of Sora, and she became very stressed and disoriented from the effort. The next half an hour was tough on all three of us as Michelle worked to calm Sora enough to travel the few blocks in the car from the beach to their home. Once home, Sora was able to relax and seemed to enjoy the roasted chicken her mother served her.
It was a tough afternoon for all of us. But I think if Sora could tell us, she’d say that it was worth it.
Here’s Sora…
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