The first year with Reo has had it's ups and downs. He truly helped lift Millie's and my heavy heart after losing Lola this time last year.
This past week marked the one year anniversary of Lola's death. I had been dreading it because I knew I would remember all the heartache and details from that day. I was melancholy, distant, quiet and somber in my thoughts with the days leading up to her anniversary.
This past year has been a blur of emotion as I never knew how much of an impact Lola truly was in my life until she is no longer here to impact it.
As I sat and reminisced on the past year, I do know good came from the bad because it was through the loss of Lola that I came to obtain Reo.
I didn't have much drive after Lola's sudden passing, that I went in limbo for a few months. I had lost my motivation to create for me, I wasn't shooting that roll a week that I had done the past year with Lola and Millie. It affected me, my social life and creative life more than I could have ever imagined.
Millie mourned in her own way, so I feel that adding Reo into her life helped bring back her pep in her step as it did mine. We faced new challenges with him, his youthful energy and his carefree and playful attitude brought back the life we had been missing.
There are still moments when I will sit too long and think too much of Lola but all the pain is worth all the joy that I was blessed to have in my life for those past 12 years she was in it.
My only hope is that Millie and Reo will help me to continue my journey that I initially started out with Lola. I feel that Reo enjoys the camera, he is fun to photograph and this has helped me to try and get back in the game of long walks with the camera. It is during these walks that I always feel I leave with the memory of 'us' in a picture to reminisce years later.
I know I have documented many treasures during walks with Lola and Millie.. and it is my hope to continue this tradition through my walks with Reo.