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"  &amp;quot;As long as I can remember, my parents have stood by the door and waved goodbye when I would leave,&amp;quot; says photographer Angelo Merendino. &amp;quot;There was never an, &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;ll just let myself out.&amp;#039; It was always, &amp;#039;We&amp;#039;ll walk you to the door.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; It was simple gestures like this that inspired Merendino to take out his camera and capture the beauty of some of life&amp;#039;s smallest moments \u2014 and now compile them into a sweet-but-resonating photo series, called Goodbye at the Door. Merendino is no stranger to creating personal and moving photos involving his family. He previously published a heartbreakingly candid photo essay that documents his late wife Jennifer&amp;#039;s fight with breast cancer. After his wife&amp;#039;s passing, Merendino made the decision to leave Manhattan, where he had lived for more than six years, and return to Cleveland to be closer to his parents. &amp;quot;Mom and dad were in their 80s, and I wanted to see them more often,&amp;quot; says Merendino. &amp;quot;I generally visited them one to two times a week and always had my camera with me because I just felt like these were moments that I needed to photograph.&amp;quot; And once again, Merendino&amp;#039;s lens captured a fleeting moment in time. His father died last May. &amp;quot;After my dad passed, I started looking through thousands of photographs I have made of my family, and this series stood out to me \u2014 the two of them always seeing me out,&amp;quot; Merendino says. &amp;quot;The final photograph in the series is the first I made of mom alone at the door,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;Being widowed myself, I can relate to my mom&amp;#039;s mourning. I&amp;#039;m her baby, the youngest of 11 children, so it&amp;#039;s strange to share this experience.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Seeing mom alone at the door is painful. Mom and dad were married nearly 63 years, so I want to embrace every second with her,&amp;quot; he adds. Check out some of the sweet images below and see the full series here.                Photos: Angelo Merendino   .   NEXT: Merendino&amp;#039;s Tribute to His Dying Wife \u00BB "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.countryliving.com/life/a6311/angelo-merendino-goodbye-at-the-door-photos/>