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Rogue Valley, Oregon Family Session

The Hollewijn's

By Ashleigh Cropper

February 23^rd, 2018

I have been photographing this family for a few years now, and it brings so much joy to me in my work when I get to see families grow. Aly and I grew up together just around the corner from each other in Oregon. She is a fun-loving, super energetic person! But over the last while she has faced some really hard trials with endometriosis. I know the pain has been immense, more than I probably could imagine. I know her two kids are miracles because of the effects of endometriosis. And I know that Aly is a fighter who has never, and will never give up.

This session was one month after major surgery for her. We didn't know how the session would go, if she could walk much, or have any energy. With those fighting genes she has always had, we had an amazing session together in the foothills of Medford, Oregon. After she told me that it was a really healing experience to do this session together. It felt good for her to be outside, be with her family, and love on her children. The power of these sessions can be amazing, if you open your heart to just playing and enjoying the time with your loved ones.

Below Aly is sharing her story because it's a powerful one. Something that I feel is rarely openly talked about. At my sessions, I am often amazed and taken back by the incredible people and their stories. I hope to be able to share more of the people behind my pictures here.

For a decade my husband and I had dealt with uncertainty; from leading experts telling us having kids could be impossible for us, to spending countless days in hospitals being run through more tests than we could count with a handful of inconclusive results. We lived in a space of never really knowing what was going on with my body, or if our chances of kids were possible. Our story comes with a condition consisting of a life of uncertainty, heartbreak, anguish, and sleepless nights from physical and mental pain. Three days before my most recent operation, we made the decision with our doctor to not just remove the endometriosis and an ovary but also remove my last remaining Fallopian tube. This would eliminate our chances of naturally conceiving, and change many of our conversations about our future. This was a decision that was based on the medical need to help stop some of the pain. This decision came with our first taste of certainty in a decade, whether we liked it or not.

Three weeks after the surgery, and a hard recovery, we scooped up the kids and spent an hour with Ashleigh capturing our family. Little did we know how important this would be in our recovery. We captured what was right in front of us, and what we were so blessed to have. The four of us smiled, laughed, and cried while Ashleigh walked through all of it with us. The time spent being intentional with our family, and what we have become, set the tone to move forward with our new life. Family photos help us remember a season in our life but for us it became more than that, the session was our first true step into accepting the the new certainty that was placed before us, and accepting we were moving into a new season of life.