A mom-to-be’s sweet tribute to her late partner has touched the hearts of people everywhere.
Nicole Babb’s partner Deonta Bennett died unexpectedly last month from unknown causes, just two months before their second baby was due. To keep his memory alive, the mom decided to incorporate Bennett in her maternity photos with her four-year-old son Landen.
The Jackson, Mississippi couple had always wanted to do a maternity photo shoot, but was unable to do so with their first child because he was born prematurely. Before Bennett’s death, he suggested the idea again, but he sadly passed away before the couple could go through with their plans.
Despite this, Babb decided to do the shoot and enlisted the help of local photographer Sidney Conley.
“I wanted to do something special because he's been there for my son since day one,” the mom told ABC News. “It’s memories for my son of his father and for my daughter who will never meet her father, it's memories for her as well.”
In late February, Conley then took photos of Babb and her son and later digitally added images of Bennett to create some beautiful family portraits.
After sharing the images on his Facebook page, Conley’s photos quickly garnered over 77,000 likes and 100,000 shares. Deeply touched by the post, one user wrote: “This absolutely brought tears to my eyes. This is truly beautiful. May he rest in peace.”
Another said, “Absolutely beautiful way to create memories!! GOD BLESS.”
Conley was also moved by his images, reports the Daily Mail. “Just how I edited [the photos] with him looking down on them, it's showing that he's making sure they're okay,” the photographer said.
Thanks to Conley’s amazing work, Babb is certain Bennett would have been thrilled with the pictures. “He would’ve been so excited just like when we did our engagement photos,” she told Global News.
“[My son] was so excited when he looked at them,” the mom, who is due on March 25, added. “He said, ‘Mama, how did they put daddy in the picture?’ I just told him that he’s now an angel and that they put an angel in the pictures.”
Family portraits honouring late family members are nothing new, but are always deeply moving. In October 2015, for instance, a heart-wrenching photo of a family paying tribute to their miscarried babies also captured the internet’s attention.
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