Picture Day gives Huntersville teen a snapshot of cancer-free life

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Nearly two weeks ago in mid-September, it was a picture-perfect day with the volleyball team, including a photogenic player who couldn't wait.

"So exciting. I love taking pictures and I think it's like really cool!" said Avery Caruso, flashing a smile on Picture Day.

"Life of a 13-year-old girl," mom Kristy Caruso said, getting her daughter prepped and primped with a curling iron. "So these will be Avery's first team pictures."

"Alright, are you guys ready? Everybody scoot one step this way," said photographer Kathleen Dellinger, directing traffic at Lake Norman Charter Middle.

"You guys look like you're surfing!" she says, laughing as she clicks her camera.

Every portrait of normalcy means so much to the Carusos.

"We take nothing for granted in our family. We still at times live day by day," Kristy told Queen City News.

"I love how all your friends are like cheering you on for this," Dellinger said, as Avery posed.

To appreciate the snapshots in time, it helps to step back to see the bigger picture.

"Avery was diagnosed August 7th of 2020 with leukemia, which is blood cancer," said Kristy.

September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Avery remained a bundle of positive energy, despite her cancer diagnosis several years ago.

"I have definitely learned that I can be strong through tough times," Avery said.

She was nine when she got the news.

"When I told her she had cancer we both cried and she said, 'Don't worry Mom I'll beat it,'" Kristy remembers.

"Letting my mom hear that [I'm going to beat it] definitely made a huge difference in her positivity and my positivity; just keep going every day," Avery said.

Kristy looks back at very different photo opportunities in years past, when Avery and her family smiled through turbulent times.

"This is during cancer treatment," she says, flipping through some older photographs.

A photographer with Flashes of Hope gave the Carusos visual mementos they look back upon fondly.

"It's just a really neat organization that takes pictures at a time when maybe that's not something that's at the forefront of your mind," Kristy said. "But looking back later on, it's really neat to have those memories."

They've had several sessions over the course of 13 years with the nonprofit.

Since the Charlotte chapter started in 2008, 75 volunteers have photographed 3428 patients, many of them with cancer.

"It was a perfect melding of my love of children and photography and my desire to give back to the community," says Rhiannon Mack, the co-director of Charlotte Flashes of Hope . "It grew to be much more, as I experienced how humbling and heartwarming it is to give my time and talent to children and families being challenged in such extreme ways."

"Capturing a moment in time that provides a family with joy today and a treasure forever is such a privilege," Mack said. "Giving with no expectation to receive, while being surrounded by individuals with such strength and courage, is a feeling beyond words."

The earliest pics with the Carusos show Avery and her twin brother Grady as infants in the NICU. They were born 26 weeks prematurely and each weighed about two pounds.

Flashes of Hope followed up with the twins for 13 years.

"They've taken kind of pictures of our family throughout our children's lives," says Kristy.

Meanwhile, Kristy showed us the stills she's taken since 2020 during two years of grueling cancer treatment.

Avery is now cancer-free.

"I can literally do anything," she says. "Like, I am strong, and I can do whatever I want. I am super good."

Meanwhile, back at Picture Day, the photographer framed the moment.

"To be able to give thanks to the Lord that Avery is still with us, man that's just huge," Kathleen Dellinger said.

The Carusos understand time goes by in a flash. So, they pause to enjoy every flicker of joy.

"Just being able to step back and see her doing something that she loves, and being photographed, is kind of neat thing as a mom," says Kristy.

Of all the photos taken, what stands out is a picture of sheer determination.

"Stay positive and stay strong, have a great day!"

"Yay!" Avery says, high-fiving Dellinger at the end of the shoot. "That was so fun!"