When Rhea Harris of Rhea Rose Photography met the Michael-Brown family for a family photo session on March 26, it was expected to be the first of several for the engaged couple and the three children. But ten hours after Harris took their first professional photos as a blended family of five, tragedy struck when an eastbound car failed to yield at a stop sign and struck the family’s southbound vehicle in Clinton Township, Ohio, killing all five occupants.

The groom-to-be, Xavier Brown, 25, and Deklin Jankowski, 9, were pronounced dead at the scene. One-year-old Riggs Brown, 7-year-old Aurora Michael, and bride-to-be Muriel Michael, 28, later died at the hospital. The 21-year-old driver of the other vehicle sustained minor injuries.

The devastated photographer described the family as happy and “so obviously in love” during the family’s Easter-themed photo session. She says that the session was the likely the first time that the engaged couple took professional photos as a blended family of five. “A lot of times, people look at photography as a hobby or something silly that isn’t important; but it is so important. Having these memories, moments frozen in time, to be cherished forever by those left behind means so much. The families of Xavier and Muriel are so thankful they have these photos to remember them at their happiest, full of love and smiles.”

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The images from the session with Harris went viral, in turn helping to put more views on a Go Fund Me for the family, which has now raised more than $56,000. “After I sat with the news in my heart for a few hours I decided to create a post letting their friends and families know how their session had gone, how it affected me, and for my clients who knew and loved them; letting them all know how important they are to me,” she said. “I tend to get attached to my clients very easily, and that was the case with this family.”

Harris is also donating the proceeds from her Easter sessions to give the relatives and friends of the Michael-Brown family canvases and large prints.

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Harris says that because she wasn’t busy that day, she edited the photos the same day and sent them to the family a few hours after the session ended. “They were able to enjoy them and share them before the tragedy. That is a blessing to me, I am so thankful  they got to enjoy their photos before this awful accident only 10 hours after their shoot.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has said that the crash remains under investigation.

“What I have learned from this experience is that life is so very short,” Harris says. “We need to be loving the people in our lives out loud each and every day. We never know when it will be our last. This experience has made me realize that my job is important, it means something, and just knowing that my photography can bring someone comfort is such a blessing.”