As a newspaper photographer, you learn quickly not to show emotion when covering emotional events because you need to cover every assignment objectively, no matter what you personally feel. However, I’m still known to get a little teary-eyed on emotional assignments, no matter how hard I try to keep my emotions to myself.
So when I found out I was photographing the Walk to Remember, a first annual event by the Zoe Foundation’s Shana Rae Project here in Baton Rouge, I fell under the assumption that it was a 5K walk/run.
I was wrong.
Words cannot describe what I felt when I realized that the Walk to Remember was not a 5K. It was a day in remembrance of children who were lost, hosted by an organization that provides financial and emotional support in assisting families after they lose a child. And the day included many emotional moment, including names being read out loud before balloons – which were decorated with messages to families’ angels in the sky – were released.
It is safe to say that it was an emotional day for everyone who attended, but I am thankful I had the opportunity to learn, to talk with so many people and to document the event.
Abby Bourgeois, 5, reacts as names are read before the balloon release as her mother, Erin, looks on during the first annual Walk to Remember, hosted by the Zoe Foundation's Shana Rae Project, on Saturday, October 8, 2011, at the LSU Rural Life Museum. The event included special music, a balloon release and a walk through the woods in memory of children who were lost. (Photo by Erin Parker / 225)
To learn more about the Zoe Foundation, their work and mission, click here.
