It has taken me a few months to write this post, mostly because I wasn’t quite sure how to start, what to say. Sometimes words lack the power to represent the rawness of a moment and the fear of not doing a story justice looms over the writer. That is what has kept me from posting these pictures- the fear of not doing justice to the life my sweet friend has had to live and overcome. I post these pictures and tell their story with the permission of the Flores Family, and I hope that they bring back sweet memories.
When the Flores Family found out they were pregnant after years of trying they were elated. For Paola, her family is everything. She is a fierce mama bear, to say the least. She also happens to be one of the best in her profession, the hardest worker I know, passionate as fire, funny, kind, fiercely loyal, feisty and real. The pregnancy and Baby Kash was long waited for and this little warrior was fully loved.
Sometimes in life, things that you know shouldn’t happen do happen, and to people they shouldn’t happen to. The day after this photo shoot Paola went into labor. I remember so clearly in the shoot having this strange feeling that if we wouldn’t have done this shoot the exact day we did, then we wouldn’t have done it at all. Two days later, little Kash was born.
Kash was born with a special heart- a heart that was made for heaven, not earth. And because of this, Kash could only stay for a while. For the little while he was here he stayed in his family’s arms. The sweetest picture of him is one where he is in his mama’s arms, his eyes locked on hers, as if to say “I see you, Mommy.” Two days after being born it was time to go where his heart was completely at peace. He left this world in his daddy’s arms and went to where the arms that would cradle him forever were those of his most perfect heavenly Father.
No words quite describe the pain of losing a child. A gut-wrenching, chest pounding pain that you can only know if you have gone through it yourself. You can’t explain it, or talk it out- all you can do is live through it. Take one day and get through it, and then work on the next day tomorrow. The Flores Family lived through this reality and have made it a priority to remember Kash and to celebrate him. At his celebration of life, Chris, Kash’s daddy spoke and shared this quote,
“You fought for us, now we fight for you.”
Kash was a fighter till the end, a warrior, beating odds so his family could hold him a little longer. There is no doubt that you have an angel looking over you Flores Family. You have handled his passing with such grace and courage and realness. I am honored to have witnessed your family’s faith in God and your reliance on his power and comfort. The testimony you have left through this time has marked those that have watched it- I can only imagine the impact it will have on eternity. I am so blessed that I got to take part in remember your angel by taking these pictures. I love you and pray for you often.
As I was writing this post I kept remembering this story of Enoch, the man that God took, from the perspective of a sweet little girl.
Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him.
A little girl came home from Sunday School, and her mother asked, “What did your teacher tell you about today?”
The little girl said, “She told us all about this man Enoch.”
And the mother said, “Well what about Enoch?”
So the little girl told her mama this story. "Enoch lived a long time ago, and God would come by every afternoon and say to him, ‘Enoch, would you like to take a walk with me?’ Enoch would say, ‘Yes, I’d like to take a walk with you, God.’ And so every day God would come by Enoch’s house, and Enoch would go walking with God. One day God came by and said, ‘Enoch, let’s take a long walk today. I want to talk to you.’ So they started out. Enoch got his coat- even took his lunch, and they started walking. They walked and they walked and they walked, and finally it got late. Enoch said, ‘My, it’s getting late, and I am a long way from home. Maybe we’d better start back.’ But God said, ‘Enoch, you are closer to my home than you are to your home, so you come on and go home with Me.’ And so Enoch went home with God.”
Little Kash was closer to God’s home than he was to ours, sweet friend, and so, despite how he would be missed, he went home with God. But for this whole life he will live in your hearts until one day you will be in each other’s arms again.
