Kim Stone has been photographing newborns for 15 years, but nothing could prepare her for the emotional experience she had with a recent shoot.
Earlier this month, Stone photographed her neighbor's granddaughter, Aubrey. "The grandmother had booked the session for her daughter, explaining that the baby’s dad had been tragically murdered by someone he thought was a friend," the photographer stated in a blog post.
"The sweet mom is an emotional wreck," Stone added. "She wanted to use Dad’s motorcycle gear; something he loved."
Stone shared a lovely photo from the shoot on Facebook, where it received over 344,000 likes and 76,000 shares.
"Her Daddy loved his motorcycle," the photographer wrote in the caption, adding, "He always wore protective gear. He wanted to make sure he was safe. He couldn't take any chances with a new baby girl on the way. But he will never hold his baby girl."
On April 28, baby Aubrey's father, Hector D. Ferrer, was fatally shot by a friend, leaving his pregnant fiancée, Kathryn Williams, to raise their unborn child as a single mom. A friend set up a GoFundMe page to help support the family in the aftermath of the loss.
With Stone's viral photo of Aubrey, the photographer said she wants to provide peace for the family. "My hope is that Kathryn and Aubrey find comfort in knowing the world is praying for them," she told The Huffington Post.
Stone also said that Kathryn sent her this message when the photo started receiving so much attention. "I will screenshot the page in a few weeks, and I'll print it off for her to show her the WORLD prayed and wept for her and mommy and daddy," the mom said. "That daddy made an impact even after he was gone and that would be his dream. Every prayer from another is one less weight for me to carry ... It's one more piece of peace I have and one less tear I shed."
It's a beautiful symbol of hope in the midst of terrible heartbreak.
Keep scrolling for more photos of baby Aubrey.
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