Father and daughter recreated wedding photos to say goodbye to wife and mother
Ben Naneri and his daughter Olivia posted these touching and beautiful photos to pay tribute to the love and respect of his late wife and mother named Ali, who died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 31.
Ben and Ali got married in 2009. Then they had just bought a house and decided to hold a wedding photo shoot in it. Just 2.5 years later, Ali passed away, and Ben and Olivia (their daughter) decided to move to another place. To say goodbye to the house and his late wife, Ben decided to finally take a picture with his daughter in the house in which he and Ali were so happy, albeit for a short time.
"Many people ask me how I felt during the photo shoot. I want you to know that this is not a story about pain and loss. Yes, I've been through all this and I'm still going through it, but I want you to see something different in these pictures. It's a love story," Ben says.
1. Ben Naneri and his daughter Olivia recreated these photos from the wedding day of Ben and Ali to say goodbye to his wife and mother, who died of cancer.
2. These photos — both during the wedding and after Ali's death — were taken by Ali's sister Melanie. Left: Ben and Ali in 2009. On the right: Ben and Olivia in December 2013.
3. One of Ali's wedding photos.
4. Olivia found her mom's curling iron and decided to play with it a little.
5. Surely in the future these photos will help Olivia remember her mother and the house in which she was born.
6. Left: Ben watches as his young wife comes down to him on their wedding day in 2009. On the right: he plays with his daughter Olivia on the same stairs in 2013.
7. "This is not a story about pain and loss. Yes, I've been through all these emotions, but I want you to see something different here. It's a love story."
8. "The memories of Ali do not live in this house. They live with us, in our hearts."
9. "I wanted to show Olivia the place where her mom and I started living together and dreamed about the future and about children."
10. Left: Ben and Ali on their wedding day in 2009. On the right: Ben and Olivia in 2013.
11. Ben and Olivia. There is a glass angel nearby, whom Olivia calls "Mommy".
12. Olivia's aunt Melanie (Ali's sister) says she often receives signs from her late sister. For example, suddenly out of nowhere, feathers begin to appear. Olivia found this feather during a photo shoot, and it reminded Melanie of her sister.
13. Ben and Olivia move into a house where the girl will have much more space.
14. Ben learned to play the ukulele, their favorite song with Ali, which was played at their wedding. This is Stevie Wonder's song I Believe (When I Fall In Love With You It Will Be Forever). Now he's playing her to his daughter.
15. "Our lives will continue to flow along a tortuous and uncertain course, but Olivia and I will always be able to look at these photos and remember that there was once a place where I was the happiest man in the world... even if not for long."
Keywords: Daughter | Mother | Wedding | Family | Death | Then and now