A great afternoon with Kaelen

Kaelen's been through a lot already in his life. Now 17 years old, he's getting ready to embark upon the next stage of his life after high school. Not only is he smart, gregarious, polite, goofy, compassionate and an amazing athlete, he's also a cancer survivor.

I met Kaelen almost 10 years ago at Camp Goodtimes when he was in the middle of his fight against leukemia. He was a kid who was always ready to speak up and express himself as well as lend a hand to anyone else who needed it. I have been so proud of him over the years and that overflowed yesterday when I had the great chance to take some portraits and hang out with him and his parents, Wally and Tina. What a great afternoon and evening it was.

You should have seen the dance Kaelen was doing prior to and after descending into the icing waters of Hood Canal for a photo opp!