A sad anniversary

Today marks four years since I said goodbye to my dear sweet friend Gloria Strauss. My heart is heavy for her family but my heart is also full of so many wonderful memories of the experience of getting to know Gloria through camp and then being invited into to Doug and Kristen Strauss' wacky, amazing, loving and forever chaotic family during the most difficult of all possible times. A 10 minute visit to their house would quickly turn into 3 hours and I'd leave with my arms filled with food and my camera being filled with hundreds of photographs...a few of which I actually took myself. Usually, Gloria's little sister Maria would steal my camera and just fire at will at anything that flew past her during the daily kid tornado in their home.

In 2007, Gloria was too sick to come to camp but was able to come along on cruise day. I held the boat at Pier 55 waiting for Doug and Kristen to bring Gloria and Maria and a few of their other kids down to the pier before cruising to Vashon to pick up the campers. The Strauss clan was late (for a change), I waited and waited, saw their jumbo van make the power turn onto Alaskan Way, the kids piled out, I tossed the car keys to an Argosy friend to move the car, Gloria stepped into her wheel chair and I pushed her at full speed to the boat. Some of Gloria's counselor friends, who hadn't seen her in a while and who were coming along for the ride, gathered on the boat rail and watched as I wheeled Gloria down the pier. They looked very concerned because they hadn't seen Glow in quite a while and didn't know that she needed a wheelchair. I then stopped, Gloria jumped up out of the chair and yelled, "A MIRACLE HAPPENED...I'M WELL!" Everyone erupted in laughter. Only Gloria could pull that stunt so perfectly.

She really was very very sick though and I made her take a nap in the wheelhouse on the way over to Vashon. Kristen then told me that there was absolutely NOTHING that would have stopped Gloria from going on the cruise that day. 

Once we got to Vashon to pick up the kids Gloria was everywhere and was having the time of her life. She even managed to get to the very front of the boat for the group picture. OK, I encouraged her, but she was planning on it anyway!

We stopped at Blake Island that day and I took a photograph of Gloria and a few of her dear friends, Amber and Sarah, my daughter Alex, and her sister Maria hanging out on the beach. That moment came and went so fast but I think of the photograph often and I'm so happy I was able to share it and the many others I took on that wonderful day...that wonderful cancer free day, with Gloria's family, friends, and others who never knew her but who have been so touched by her story. I'll never forget that day out on Puget Sound with Glow and her family. Gloria passed away less than three months later.

This summer all four of girls went on the Camp Goodtimes cruise again. They stopped on the same log and Alex moved over from her original spot and they all honored Gloria by posing for a photograph with Gloria's seat empty, but that moment was filled with so much love for her. I know it meant a lot to the girls, especially to Gloria's sister Maria to take a moment out of the chaos and simply remember.

OK...we had the quiet moment, but life is about living, celebrating and trying to enjoy every blessed minute of it. A few moments later we took another photo and the girls never sat still for the rest of the day.

What would Gloria want for her friends and family to do on this day? On any day for that matter? For a party to happen. For the ordinary to turn into the extraordinary just because you want it to be that way. For Gloria, a simple walk down the beach could turn into performance art. How lucky many of us were to know her. 

I know I probably speak for a lot of people when I say that the pain of feeling her loss is completely worth the joy that came from knowing her.

There's a million things to say!

Another summer has come and gone and another 3 1/2 months of blog silence. What could the reason possibly be? That I have been rendered totally speechless? Unlikely. That I've been sitting around doing next to nothing? Impossible. That I've been busier than snot on a two year old and time has whizzed by so fast because just when one incredible moment happened it was piggybacked on by another and then some other dramatic turn of events happened taking me from here to there and back again, from exhilaration to a complete sense of loss and then luckily bouyed back up by other random events, people and situations with my underlying feeling being one of constantly be amazed about how beautiful life is and that getting older and older is completely worth it and regardless of gray hairs is still high on my list of priorities?

Bingo.

So in the interest of letting you - whoever you might me :) - know that I'm still out here doing my thing and loving every minute of it that on this blustering day today I was inspired to post some photographs from a blustery day on the first full day of summer this year. I had the honor of capturing Mario and Jenn's incredibly unique wedding on the schooner Zodiac while cruising through the San Juan Islands. It was a day filled with laughter, joy, animated lip syncing of a familiar song called "I'm on a boat!", and meatballs flying through the air randomly as some guests didn't head the warning to eat dinner below decks because of the wind topside. What a waste of food! At least the Zodiac's stowaway kitty didn't go hungry that day.

Hope you enjoy the photos and more summer stories coming soon.

Proud father!

Poulsbo's Viking Fest Parade 2011 was a blast. It's so cool to live in a small community where such a tradition as Viking Fest is nurtured and celebrated. My daughter Alex is a part of group at her school known as the B.R.A.T.S (Breidablik's Rising Athletically Talented Students). They do such an interesting array of activities that include ball walking, juggling, jump roping, unicycling and in Alex's case riding the dreaded 6 foot tall "Triple Stack". Watching her do this through the Viking Fest parade with thousands of onlookers was awesome. I was very proud. Mostly, I was amazed at her ability to ride the darn thing, especially amidst such a distracting atmosphere (and a bumpy road!).

Hours earlier I decided to buy a little GoPro Hero, which is an HD video camera that can be mounted almost anywhere. I mounted it to the top of Alex's helmet and her video from the parade is pretty spectacular. I edited it down to a 5 minute clip here. The local paper, The North Kitsap Herald, also did a story on Alex that you can check out here. We've had a lot of fun with that little video camera already including taking it along on multiple barf-inducing rides at the Viking Fest Carnival.

Time goes by so quickly. Seems like yesterday that Alex was 'graduating' from Kindergarten and singing a song about Panda Bears with her classmates that made every single one of the parents burst into tears. Meanwhile, Miles was finishing 5th grade. Now Miles is heading off to college to take high school AND college classes over the next few years. These milestones seem to get closer and closer together.  Next is Alex's 5th grade graduation in a few weeks.

Heading to Costco for the Kleenex.

There's just something classic about Black & White

I just felt inspired today to share some thoroughly random photographs. A black & white image has a depth and texture to it that encourages a closer look and a longer pause. Since life is in color, black & white makes me reflect just a little bit longer on a moment and notice things a bit differently. In any photograph of course time stands still, but in black & white, that stillness echos in a way that can be so beautiful.

Anna, 1992

Ashley with dad, last summer

Party bus, August 2010

Christa & Michael

The Avila's

Peter & Julia in 2009, expecting their first child any day now.

Jordan

Jordan & Lisa

Kelsie & Lauren waiting out a wind gust

Nate in studio

Keslie in the garden

Keslie and Lauren on my roof!

The Tobey siblings, I've known them all for over 25 years

Caity continues to amaze!!

Caity a few weeks ago...

Caity last night...

Caity raised well over $3,000 to benefit pediatric cancer research last night by shaving her head! The St. Baldrick's fundraiser was held at Fado's Pub in downtown Seattle. Not only did she raised money but she also donated her hair to "Locks of Love".

I really am having a hard time grasping how incredible Caity's journey has been. To consider all that she's gone through, the uncertain road ahead, AND the fact that she just turned 14 which of course ushers in all sorts chaos into a kid's life, her decision to help others in this way is remarkable. Cancer dealt her such a tough hand in life but she has elected to fight back in every way that she possible can.

What occupied your thought process when you were 14? Probably the typical drama that has been going on ever since that incredibly awkward vehicle called "junior high" was invented. Caity is going through all of the same things but in addition, as her mom Misti refers to it, she is still dealing with "The Monster". Her monster is not a make believe one that hides under the bed either. Her monster is one that the best minds in the world are joining together to try to eliminate. In the meantime, Caity and her doctors are doing their best to keep it at bay and under control and for now, it's working.

What's also so touching to witness is how kids who are struggling with cancer connect with each other. Last night Caity bumped into a few other kids that are on the same wacky roller coaster that she is. They connected instantly like magnets that belonged together. Their bond is like something that only those who have walked the walk can really understand. The comfort they give each other is absolutely beautiful. Earlier in the day I visited one of Caity's good friends at Children's. When I told Caity that her friend wanted me to congratulate her on her accomplishment Caity just beamed.

Amidst the turmoil of Caity's day to day life, she still manages to generate that great smile which proves that she first and foremost wants to enjoy life to the fullest. I told her once last night that I wanted to take just one shot of her not smiling from ear to ear. She said enthusiastically, "I can't NOT smile!" (wouldn't that be a great bumper sticker for everyone's life?!) I did manage to capture just a fleeting reflective moment though in which I felt like she was looking to the future, with hope.

Karen speaks

My wife and I just spent a wonderful couple of days with our dear friend Karen Gerstenberger. We're working together on a video project focusing on family-centered care based on Karen's family's cancer journey, which began in the fall of 2006 with their daughter Katie's diagnosis. Karen's ability to revisit such difficult times and still be able to pick the perfect words to express her feelings is an absolute gift. Having a couple of video cameras pointed at her had to make it more difficult but that didn't even seem to phase her one bit.

Heidi and I witnessed something incredible these past two days; a mother's undying love for her daughter. It's been almost four years since Katie's life was cut short by cancer but she is remembered and honored every day and in every step that Karen takes. Through sharing her family's most difficult and most emotional moments and chronically the tragic loss of dear Katie, Karen hopes to help improve the way hospitals treat the critically ill as well as to help families that might unexpectedly find themselves in a similar life and death struggle. There is a fellowship amongst those whose lives have been turned upside down and changed forever by cancer or other life threatening illness. Those looking in from the outside can never know what it really is like unless they join the club at some point in their lives. The by product of listening however, is a truly wonderful thing...compassion. And compassion is something that can affect positive change anywhere it is directed. That is the goal of the project that Karen and I are working on.

I am truly blessed and honored that Karen is willing to share her story with me in hopes of helping others.

March 4, 2011 at Karen's home

Karen & Katie, just two weeks before Katie passed away in August, 2007