This is a story that can’t be told with few words… or pictures for that matter.

Ashleigh’s husband, LCpl Cody Roberts was killed in Action in 2010 only 3 months after his son was born. I met them for the first time for their newborn portraits, with my 10 month old in tow flew from North Carolina to Idaho for his funeral and on a cold, early morning I was there when his unit came home missing 19 souls lost during their tour. On another winter night, I photographed Cody’s best friend, Zack’s homecoming from Afghanistan. Over time, Ashleigh moved forward – Zack was a constant comfort and support to both Ashleigh and Colten. The void left by Cody’s loss could never be filled, but a heart is big enough to allow love to grow along side of it.

Fast forward to this spring, Zack entered a contest with the radio station WMZQ to be ‘Engaged on Stage’ – and with the support of our tight knit military family they WON! He asked if I could come to photograph this special day. However, we met a little resistance getting a press badge to the concert headlined by Luke Bryan….

I’ve had the honor to photograph some of the most important days of their lives and I would beg, borrow or steal to photograph Zack and Ashleigh’s happy ending. I called, e-mailed, searched and stalked to find contacts with the concert venue, Live Nation, and WMZQ. When I finally got ahold of a decision-maker this is what I sent…

…I’ve taken photos of the most important days of their lives and I would do anything to be able to be there to photograph Zack and Ashleigh getting engaged.

I already have tickets to the show and have been in touch with the radio station but they explained there were no more press badges for the event. I don’t want to photograph anything but Zack and Ashleigh for their own memories and photo albums. I’m a portrait photographer with a little studio – I don’t want to sell the images anywhere to anyone.

Please let me know if there is anyway possible that I would be able to bring a camera to this event to document this joyous day in their lives. Thank you for your consideration.

Attached are a few images of those days I mentioned – I would love to make their album complete!

Cody and Colten at only a few days old and just a week before he left for Afghanistan:

Colten at 3 months old – this was the day before the Roberts were notified that Cody had been killed:

 

During Cody’s funeral, a Marine read a letter from Zack – Cody’s best friend who was still serving overseas.

They celebrated their first Christmas without Cody:

 

At Cody’s homecoming – Ashleigh was there in the crowd…

 

About a month later, Zack’s unit came home.  Ashleigh waited along with Zack’s twin sister and family to welcome him.

 

The next spring, Colten turned 1 year old.

 

They started out as my clients, but I feel so much love for this family.  Ashleigh hasn’t moved on, she’s moved forward and the happiness that Zack brings to their lives is an amazing gift. Those days and weeks turned into months and years…. here are Ashleigh, Zack and Colten this past Christmas:

Regards,

Jillian Mills

With a little luck and a kind media relations guy, I got permission to bring a camera to their engagement. It was still a surprise to Ashleigh, who knew about the contest but did not know that they won. You can see the magic moments as they happened here 🙂