THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

“I don’t care about whose DNA has recombined with whose. When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching–they are your family.”
― Jim Butcher, Proven Guilty

Nicole contacted me some months ago to enquire about a photoshoot for a large group of friends who were coming to Sedgefield on a short trip, she mentioned they had all had an incredibly difficult twelve months and needed something special to remember the trip and each other with.  At first, I was at a loss and had absolutely no idea what to do with this group of 15 people and a baby!

I needn’t have worried at all, Mr T and I came up with some fun ideas and did loads of preparation but in order for the photoshoot to succeed the group had to be prepared to cooperate. Boy, did they co-operate! They were fantastic, as Nicole said, “the group is really crazy and filled with big personalities, we support each other at dance competitions, game nights, paintball – everything! We are a group of friends who really just love celebrating life and friendship.”

As we all know, life can get a bit hectic sometimes and it’s easy to grow away from our friends and family but this lovely group of people have the right idea, they plan monthly trips and activities to keep the friendships alive and to breakaway from their busy lives.

The shoot was exhausting but tons of fun, there was walking, dancing (mambo number 5 line dance), hugging, kissing and playing but the most special thing for me was right at the very end as the sun had set behind the hills, we sat them all down in a talking circle with a plate of tealights in the middle (one candle for each person there) Mr T had lovingly made a Talking Stick for them (how fabulously sweet and sensitive is my love?) and adorned it with all types of meaningful and symbolic items.

A Talking Stick gives the person holding it the power to speak and the rest of the group the power to listen, each member of the group had an opportunity to hold the stick and express their gratitude for the group and all the people in it, while I moved around the circle documenting everything with my camera.

It was a moving experience for all of us, there was some laughter, some tears and at the end we gave them the stick to keep and we all went home tired but happy.

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“You’re going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it’s always their actions you should judge them by. It’s actions, not words, that matter.”
― Nicholas Sparks, The Rescue

That is so true for this group, their actions speak louder than words, they are always truly there for one another.

Love and appreciate you guys for sticking with me and reading my posts,

Moira