I first saw Lorelei when she was a sassy but shy two-year-old with a thick head of curly red hair peeking over the top of her family’s perfect white picket fence as I was driving by one day. She was a bundle of energy and always perfectly dressed. I found out later her grandmother is quite the seamstress and sews her outfits for her. They are quite amazing! Later that year I photographed Lorelei and her older brother Keegan and we had a ball! Imagine Michael J. Fox’s roll as Alex Keeton on Growing Pains in a much younger person and you have Keegan! They are both really neat kids!

Later on in the year that I photographed Lorelei, her parents upon checking if she may have growth issues found out the news that no parents would ever want to hear. She has a rare disease where her white blood cells are attacking her body. It is kind of like cancer, but without the tumor. She has been undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments, but the disease is so rare that not much research has been devoted to it’s cause or cure. So for now, her parents hope and pray and try to give her the moments in life every 5-year-old experiences. Keegan is still very much a character and a sweet and loveable kid.

The portraits were my gift to Lorelei for her 5th birthday. Enjoy.