Photo taken by contributor Shelby Hall, a mother in her twenties from Dallas, Texas. Before her boys were born, she had a difficult relationship with her now fiancé, in part due to his struggles with drug addiction. Shelby suffered from depression through much of their early relationship as a result of being unable to cope. During that rough time in her life she found herself comforted and consoled by her photography. Shelby’s fiancé is now sober, and they are happy parents together. She loves having her photos to look back on. They read like a timeline and you can see the progressions and pitfalls through them all. They also serve as a reminder of how much stronger she and her fiancé are today.

About this photo: “This one challenged me so much for a lot of reasons. I spend so much of my time feeling uncomfortable with myself and my surroundings that just the process of TAKING this photo was nearly debilitating. Once I got it taken I ended up with something I was really truly proud of, which was uncommon for me so I naturally wanted to share it- but it took me nearly 5 hours to work up that courage and once I did I felt like I really let something powerful out. It was a big sobering reminder that this really is my therapy!”

Find more from Shelby at her blog.

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