Ben Nunery’s wife, Ali, passed away from a rare form of lung cancer in 2011 when she was just 31–leaving behind Ben and their one-year-old daughter, Olivia. When Ben and Olivia made the decision to move out of their Cincinnati home they didn’t want to leave without memories of Ali. So Ben asked his sister-in-law, Pace, a professional photographer, to help them capture the joy in their house when Ali was alive. These stunning photos did just that.
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
Ben says, “I did it for me. I did it for us. I did it so I would have something to show for the love and beauty that occupied that house for a short time in our lives. I wanted to be able to show Olivia the place where her mother and I started our lives together and dreamed of raising children. I thought it would be much harder to say goodbye in this way, but as I sat in the driveway, ready to drive away for the last time, I realized that it’s just a house. The memories of Ali don’t live in that house. They live with us, in our hearts.”
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
Melanie Tracy Pace / Loft3 Photography
“The pain will subside little by little but the love never will, no matter where we live. Our lives will continue down a curvy and uncertain path but Olivia and I will be able to look at these photos and know that for a short time there was a place where I was the luckiest man in the world, even if just for a little while,” says Ben.
