By Luke Duecy
SEATTLE - For military families, a family portrait is much more than a picture on a wall - it just may be the last memory they have of their loved one.
Now, a local photographer is on a crusade to document those families before they go off to war. And she does it all for free.
She was at a local park on Sunday to help another family - the Watsons, whose dad just returned from Iraq and could be deployed again soon.
For the Watsons, getting all seven kids together for anything isn't easy to do. The oldest is graduating from high school, and little Andrew is just a few months old.
But, getting together for a family portrait is something this family wouldn't miss for the world - because it could be their last.
Sgt. Larry Watson is in field artillery, and his wife Joy often wonders - what if he never comes back?
"It's terrifying - it is - you wake up every morning praying that's not the last picture you have to add to your wall," she says.
Sgt. Watson says, "I just look at them and pray and I pray to them - I'll be back real soon one day."
Sunday is a special day for another reason too - as any family who has had their portrait taken knows, it gets really expensive. But this time - there's no charge.
Sarah Menefee is a professional photographer who makes her living shooting family portraits. But ever since her brother joined the Marine Corps, she hasn't charged military families one dime.
An incredulous Joy remembers when Sarah first told her.
"I said really? You sure that's free? No strings attached? No extra? She said, 'No, you just have to get here.'" So the Watsons drove all the way up from Vancouver, Wash.
Each shot holds a special place in Sarah's heart, because not all the soldiers she photographs come back the same way.
"I had one that was severely injured," she says. "I'm really happy that I was able to capture that for them, but then again my heart breaks for the family."
"I hope I do capture that for them and that they can keep that until their husbands or wives come home," she says.
Just like she did for the Watsons.
Joy says these photos by Sarah Menefee will stay in the family forever. "For us it's a family heirloom to pass on."
For that's she's grateful.
And so is Sgt. Larry Watson - they just might help him get through war - again. And get his kids through it, too.
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