Before I start explaining all about who Claudine is, I want to briefly explain my reasons for changing my business name from Brooke Taylor Photography to Claud Nine Photography. 

In the year of 2020, I was going through a rough patch in my business. A lot of negative thoughts were coming into my head telling me that “I suck at this”, “You are just like everyone else-being so basic”, “nobody even knows me”, etc. Mind you this is very normal when you are running a business. Anyways, I had to dig deep into “my why”. Why is it that I love what I do? Well, it is all about the people for me. And then the thought came to me that I needed to showcase that in my business more for everyone to see! I thought deep and hard. What can I do? Change the name? And all of a sudden it came to me. Like as if someone whispered in my ear “Claud nine”. 

“Claud nine” is: Claudine’s name mixed together with the famous saying “on cloud nine”. It felt so right to me. I felt like it all made sense too. I love that feeling of seeing people get together and seeing the love and smiles they have on their faces – you know, that feeling of being on “cloud nine”. But Claud Nine has a perfect twist to it for me and my brand. It has meaning, sentimentality, and love. And that is exactly what I want to represent in my business. 

Who is Claudine?

She was the perfect oldest daughter, always responsible and taking care of her 5 younger sisters. 

She was involved with many school activities and worked to get the best grades she could. 

She got into her dream college and studied abroad in Jerusalem with an open heart and fun spirit. 

She also had every single class mapped out to a “T” for every class she would take in every semester until she graduated. 

She found the husband of her dreams and they had 3 beautiful children together. 

She was an all-star at organizing and was hired to do side projects to organize homes. 

She put her heart and soul into following her faith. 

She was always very put together, even on Christmas morning she made sure she had her hair up and some lipstick on. 

She had the BEST parties anyone ever went to. There was always a theme and that theme was presented in the classiest, most extra way. 

She even had the most amazing funeral. As sad as it is to mention this, it was an honor to be able to talk about the wonderful life she had created. Her funeral had over 500 people there. If that doesn’t tell you how amazing she was, I don’t know what would.

She touched so many lives that we wanted to try to keep that love she had, alive. Her younger sister Chelsea had the idea to make up a hashtag in her memory: #makeitaclaudineday. Every year on her passing day, we share the love that she so willingly shared with others by doing small acts of kindness in honor of Claudine’s name.

This is just a recap of her life and how wonderful it was. You know how when someone passes away you always try to remember the good parts of their lives? Well, it is insanely hard to think of anything “bad” she has ever done. She was a best friend to everybody and loved wholeheartedly. 

You want to know why I look up to and admire this amazing lady that I have never met? Well, this is why. She is one of the best examples of giving love.

When I met her son, Justin, for the first time I knew he was somebody special. I soon realized he is not only someone very special but that there was also somebody very special watching over him. It made it all the more touching. When Justin talked about his mom, who then passed away only 2 years ago (currently 8 years now), he described her with utmost love, a love that I was captivated by. The more I got to know Justin, the more I got closer to knowing more about Claudine and feeling her one of a kind love. 

I feel close to her which is so crazy because 1) I’ve never met her, and 2) she is not here. You may think I’m nuts but I know I feel her love every day. I know she is with me, her children, her sisters, mom, dad, husband, and everyone she loves and cares for. 

I feel so honored and blessed to be a part of her family. I feel so honored to feel her love and have her guidance with me always. I feel so honored to be married to the son she raised so perfectly. I feel so honored to know and believe that I will meet her one day and that heaven isn’t all that far away. 

Everything I wrote is nowhere near or close to explaining how amazing of a woman she was. You kind of either just had to meet her or know her children and family personally.

All I wish for as I write this post, is to hopefully and successfully share her legacy and inspiration that I feel, to tell you that love is all that matters in the world, and that it is the ONLY thing you remember. So I pray that you feel loved today because you deserve it!