I learned long ago that you can find grace in the most unsuspecting places. Church, yes, but also in the smiles of children playing on the monkey bars, the hands of the elderly, the grieving of a widow, and the bravery of a cancer patient.
To me, the October cover of Little Rock Soiree is grace personified: Heather Owens, 29, looking gorgeous and strong in the middle of chemotherapy for breast cancer. I still get a little choked up when I look at it. I’m so proud of her — and the millions of women who fight this disease daily.
I first heard Heather’s story from two coworkers, dear friends of hers who sat by her side through every chemo treatment. I immediately fell in love with her courage. Diagnosed with breast cancer at 28, Heather said she “was thrown into a world she thought was only for ‘old’ people.” Disappointed in the products inside a chemo bag provided by another nonprofit, she decided to start her own organization to create bags to make cancer patients feel beautiful and give them hope.
When I pitched the idea of a story in Soiree to Heather, she immediately put together an inspiration board of images that described the way she felt: she’s a fighter, but still drop-dead beautiful. The eye black? All her idea. I just love it, don’t you?
The day photographer Michael Baxley sent us the raw images from the shoot, our creative team hovered around our art director’s computer ooh-ing and aah-ing over the images of her in her wig. When we saw the image of her without it — the stark contrast of the eye black against the cream of her bald head — we all knew this was the cover.
It says so much about her fight, yes, but it’s more than that. The cover, to us, speaks volumes about the direction we’re taking Soiree. Building on the firm foundation of the last 10 years, we want this magazine to grow into a more in-depth publication, with articles and photos showcasing the best of Little Rock in real, genuine, maybe even sometimes gritty ways.
Read Heather’s story — and be inspired — here.