Welcoming. Honest. Hilarious. These three qualities perfectly describe my friend Melissa.  We met at an Easter party at my daughter's school, and it was immediately evident that those qualities made her very pleasant to be around.  In a world where we're constantly inundated by the highlight reel of everyone's lives on social media and beyond, meeting someone easy going like Melissa was incredibly refreshing.  She is also warm, kind, and perhaps best of all, unapologetically real.  I was very excited to take these pictures of Melissa and her girls for a Father’s day gift for her husband, Burt. 

Along with being an awesome and hardworking mom, Melissa has also been battling breast cancer for years. Her story is incredibly sobering, and her strength seems endless.  She's an inspiration to me, and I'm really proud to call her a friend.

I had a blast taking these images.  Her girls are hysterical, and I could see right away that their mom is their super-hero.  It's also very clear that they are each other's best friend. I felt honored to be the one shooting these sweet moments for them. Below are some of my favorites.