An Intimate Engagement Session at Loose Park | Mike + Ari in Kansas City
It was a rainy afternoon.
Gray and full of anticipation as the meeting that had been on the calendar for months had arrived. I drove with windshield wipers on, thinking somehow there was a bit of comfort in the rhythm of the back and forth–back and forth motion clearing the drops from my view. I got closer, rounded the corner and drove slowly over the train tracks as the charming local coffee house came into view. Maybe it’s the sentimentalist inside me, but I couldn’t help but think of the allure of it all. It wasn’t until I walked in the front doors to introduce myself to Mike and Ari did I realize how perfectly this couple fit into the picture I was just admiring.
We ordered our coffee of choice and got to know each other and see if I would be a good fit as a photographer for this sweet couple. We were in a booth on the right side of the shop about two rows back from the window. They sat on the same side together and I sat across from them. The diffused gray sky filtered it’s light gently into the shop and onto Mike and Ari. But that wasn’t what I remember most vividly about our time together. It was how they adored each other. They delighted in the others presence. They seemed to take each second they were given together and treasure it. There was absolutely no other image in Mike’s eye than Ari. He put his arm around his bride to be and pulled her close to him. I don’t think Ari’s soft, shy smile left her cheeks. It was put there by the looks and touch of Mike. I watched with a reflecting a smile on my face as well. How can you not when you see a pure. gentle love like theirs in front of you?
Inside, away from the tearful, sad sky sat two people utterly and completely in love. Unaware of the world around them, because the person beside them was their world. Safe from the gray by leaning in close to the warmth of the others arms. Looks were shared that spoke a language only the other one understood. Soft pink flushed cheeks and eyes cast downward after he would kiss the side of her head. This the man she’ll marry. This the woman he loved. Like a scene from a picture book. And there I was, a reader in awe of the sweet story it told.
