Watch this video of outtakes from the shoot to see behind-the-scenes fun.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So much goes into making a shoot successful. Everything from hiring models to renting costumes and props and finding the perfect location. Thanks to the following people who helped make this shoot rock.

Photographer: Lois Olson, www.loisolson.com
Hair/Makeup: Lindsay Longchaya, Studio 413
Stylists & Costumes: Jessica Misegadis, Second Chance Antiques & Collectibles; Fringe & Tassel
Plane prop: Stan Waller

Photographer: Lois Olson, www.loisolson.com
Hair & Makeup: Lindsay Longchaya, Studio 413
Stylist: Jessica Misegadis, Second Chance Antiques & Collectibles

Dick & Suzanne 50th wedding anniversary

What I originally thought was not my best work turned out to be my most important work thus far. Last summer, I attended my husband’s parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary party in the small town of Clarks, Nebraska. While there, I shot this image of his parents. Little did I know at the time that this particular image would make it into the funeral bulletin for them both.

We never know how our work or how we will touch the lives of others.

The Sparrow Stand is more than a business for me—an exchange of product for money.  Photography goes beyond a commodity when it touches the lives of others; when I enter into relationships/friendships with those who started out as my clients but ended up as lifelong friends.

Stories do matter. It’s in the stories we tell—of our lives and of those who have touched us—that we leave a legacy behind.

I’ve been reflecting a lot since Dave’s mom was diagnosed with cancer in November and she died a month later.  Then Dave’s dad died less than a week later, the morning of his mom’s viewing.

What was to be one viewing and funeral became two.

I don’t know if it’s the magic of small town communities or if it’s a testament to the lives of Suzanne and Richard Olson, but the stories that were told that weekend showed the legacy that was left behind by these two very special people. Dave’s mom didn’t just touch my life, but the lives of a whole community. It’s true. It’s in the little things, the everyday occurrences where our stories are told and hers told by the many lives that were touched by her was amazing. I shall miss her.

This is the story of a woman, whom I truly admired and loved. Her name was Martha Suzanne, but she went by Suzanne. She was my mother-in-law. Sometimes the best way to tell a story and learn about a person is by observing little moments in her life. Here are some of Suzanne’s as told by those who loved her most:

I first met Suzanne at summer CEF camp when I was 12 years old long before she became my mother-in-law. She was my camp counselor. I particularly remember the night I woke her up from a sound sleep when I played my clarinet for a fellow camper who asked to hear it. Talk about being situationally unaware. I don’t know what I was thinking. But even then, she was so gracious. I think I knew from the beginning that she loved me and that only grew when I became her daughter-in-law 10 years later.

I remember when Jae was little; we went to visit Suzanne as she taught 1^st Grade at Grand Island Christian School. Dave and I did a stock photography shoot that day in her classroom and I remember observing how amazing she was with her students, very much like a mom, loving and firm at the same time.

No matter how old she became, Suzanne was always a young girl at heart. I remember for her 50^th wedding anniversary, she wore white patent leather shoes with white ankle lace socks and paired with a flower-patterned dress. So cute. And so her.

One of my last memories of her was the day Dave and I visited Clarks to see his mom and dad during Clarks’ famous Bean Day. I had never before witnessed cow patty bingo. What a hoot that was. But more special was the time I had to chat with Suzanne as we walked about the town and she told me the history of their time there and how the town had grown and changed over the years. Little did I know that that would be my last time with her. At that time, we didn’t know she had cancer and that by the time she found out, she would already be at Stage 4.

Even though I’ve known her for 35 years, there was much about her that I was still to learn over the days that followed.

Her sister, Rosalie, shared that Suzanne used to be in a chorus line in college. I had no idea, but it delights me to know that. I love that about her.

At the viewing and funeral, I met her college roommate whose story attributes that she wouldn’t be a Christian today if it wasn’t for Suzanne dragging her to all those Bible studies while in college.

My husband, Dave, tells his 4-year-old salvation story. It was during the summer of ’68, a normal day in which he was spanked by Suzanne for doing something naughty and received a time out. While there, he had time to think. He wanted to tell Jesus he was sorry. Afterward, he rode his rocking horse and sang, “I have Jesus in my heart” while riding his pony for an hour with contentment.

Her son, Dan, tells the story of chicken pandemonium. One day, he and Dave were playing and decided to climb on the chicken house roof belonging to their neighbors. From that vantage point, they could see the chickens well and decided to stir up the action by throwing berries into the pen and watching the chickens chase each other for the treats. Little did they know that Suzanne was onto them. She caught them in the act and marched them over to the neighbor’s house to apologize. Dan says that was the kind of mother that she was and it had a profound influence on their lives. She loved them enough to teach them personal accountability.

Dan also talked about how the little house he grew up in at Clarks didn’t feel like home without her in it. He could hear her voice still and he kept expecting her to come in from the back porch or root cellar.

Rosalie, her daughter, talked about how she could hear her mother’s voice in the house when Suzanne was in the hospital in Grand Island, but now that Suzanne was in the arms of Jesus in Heaven, she could no longer hear her voice.

At the funeral, her pastor shared that Suzanne hesitated to ride alone with him in his car to Lincoln to visit her husband, who was deathly ill, in the hospital. He did not know why at first until she shared that she had never ridden in a car alone with any man but her husband. That speaks to her character.

Her husband, Richard (otherwise known as Dick), was a really popular man in town and the surrounding communities. He was a hard worker, one of the last steeplejacks to repair church steeples, and a highly accomplished chess player.

She was a supportive wife. As her pastor said, while Dick was always up for a party, she was always in the wings supporting him.

Suzanne could have been overshadowed by her gregarious husband, but she wasn’t. Not for me. She shone so brightly and from her face, I could see hope, love, and peace. Her gentle, kind spirit was felt by me as well as the neighbors across the street.

Her legacy continues today because the fruits of her labor were multiplied:

1 son is now a pastor leading men to salvation;

1 son is now a military officer leading men in combat;

1 son is now an amazing, gifted artist;

1 daughter is now a homemaker raising and teaching four precious children; and

1 daughter is a Down syndrome grownup child who loves her work in light manufacturing building pieces/widgets.

Maybe the best way to show how much Suzanne’s story resonates beyond her life and the legacy she left behind is to share with you her last words, ones she wrote in her own hand the day before she died:

“I put my trust in Jesus knowing He died on that cross for my sins. If anyone needs a miracle it’s me and God can do it, but He has me covered no matter what happens here or there. There is a big thing in my heart. When I am on the other side in Heaven, I want to see you there, too, when it’s your time, not before. I say this because I love you and God does, too—wonders He has prepared for us in Heaven. I am not in despair. Wishing you peace, joy and love this season and forever. I’m rejoicing in Jesus.”

My friends, that is a legacy worth leaving behind and one I very much want to emulate. You see, our stories really do matter.

“Life isn’t a matter of milestones but of moments.”

—Rose F. Kennedy

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have you ever wanted to dress like the characters in TV shows like Mad Men or Pan Am? Well, now you can. You can star in your very own photo shoot in retro style. Watch the video to find out how. Email Lois Olson at lois.olson.photo@gmail.com to reserve your spot today.

Retro Housewife with Chocolate Chip Cookies

Your very own 30-minute Retro Mini Session includes professional retro hair and makeup, retro props, a hires digital file of your choice with print release, a digital Valentine of the same pose and a FB image of that pose plus any others you order. Additional poses and prints are available a la carte. Plus I’m donating 10% of each sale to World Vision to help women & teen girls in Third World Countries. Cost: $99. Send Lois an email at lois.olson.photo@gmail.com or fill out the contact form here to reserve your spot today.

Retro Housewife Taking a Call from Her Husband

Thanks so much to my promo photo shoot team:

Photographer: Lois Olson, The Sparrow Stand
Hair/Makeup: (on Allie) Lindsay Longchaya, Studio 413
Hair: (on Chloe) Rachael Kaminski, Capture Today Photography
Stylists: (on Allie) Jessica Misegadis, Second Chance Antiques & Collectibles and Fringe & Tassel; (on Chloe) Rachael Kaminski
Models: Allie Busch, Chloe K.
Valentines templates: Florabella Collections
Costumes: Fringe & Tassel, The Sparrow Stand, Marshalls, Target, Kohls

Rock your own look in these Retro Mini Sessions. You can customize your outfit with vintage pieces from Second Chance Antiques & Collectibles (ask for Jessica if you’re there on a Thursday or Friday), rent from The Rose Theater or Fringe & Tassel, or buy a vintage look with a modern twist at Forever 21.

Retro mom reading story to little girl

Gather your friends or your little ones and plan your Retro Mini Session today. Think of the memories you’ll create together.

Little girl talking on retro phone

Choose from 9 different Valentines card designs for your digital Valentine download.

Baking Cookies Together

Love Letters from Afar

Reserve your spot today for your very own Retro Mini Session. Available for a limited time only Feb. 9, 10, & 11, 2012 at the studio. Email me at lois.olson.photo@gmail.com to schedule your appointment or with any questions you might have. Can’t wait to hear from you.

“Set yourself earnestly to discover what you are made to do, and then give yourself passionately to the doing of it.”

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Insist on yourself. Never imitate.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson