“One day,” you said to me, “I saw the sunset forty-four times!” And a little later you added: “You know—one loves the sunset, when one is so sad…” “Were you so sad, then?” I asked, “on the day of the forty-four sunsets?” But the little prince made no reply.” ― Antoine de Saint Exupery, The […]
Tag: fatherhood
The Funny, The Scary, and the Heartbreaking
There is nothing funny about cancer, but there was one moment during Alex’s treatment that made me laugh. When Alex was in the hospital, either her mother or I was always with her. I was usually on the night shift. One night in May 2016, I photographed a baseball game in Frederick, MD. Afterward, I […]
October 11, 2001
On October 8, 2001, an American Airlines flight was headed to Chicago. Suddenly, a passenger started screaming, “Save the Sears Tower. Save yourselves.” He was convinced the plane was headed towards the country’s tallest building and tried to break into the cockpit to stop it. The man was subdued by passengers and crew. No damage […]
Letter to Alex
September 11, 2001 was shocking for me, as it was for every American. After an emotional day, I did what I always do to process my thoughts. I wrote. Nothing even approaching this magnitude had happened in my life to that point. I felt it was important to preserve these memories for my children so […]
Work That Matters
I saw a video once titled, Brutal Truth: Nobody Cares About Your Photography. The narrator described a friend who didn’t post his photos on social media. When asked why, he said, “The truth is, nobody cares about my photography. Nobody cares about your photography. Nobody cares about anyone’s photography.” This struck a chord with me because […]
The National
When I was a young boy, I was forbidden to cross the main street. If I was caught, there would be dire consequences, perhaps the worst things that could happen from a nine-year-old’s point of view. I would have been grounded. My father might have taken a belt to me. My favorite toys would have […]
How I Knew What Was in Store for Alex
In my last post, I said I knew the challenges awaiting Alex in Florida. Here’s how. In the summer of 1987, I was working for the Shoe Service Institute of America in Chicago’s Western suburbs. I edited their magazine, Shoe Service, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My boss had just announced his retirement. At their summer […]
Adventures in Parenting
In 2017, I was hired to photograph a conference in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. A few weeks before the conference, Alex called. “How far is Ponte Vedra Beach from Gainesville?” I looked it up—about an hour and a half. She asked if she could tag along—and if I could extend the trip by a day […]
What’s So Tough About Being a Parent?
“You have homework,” Alex said to me after her first day of seventh grade. She handed me a piece of paper with a single question on it. “What’s so tough about being a parent?” The teacher who created the assignment allowed two blank lines for an answer. That was not going to be enough space. […]
Affordable Care
In June of 2013, my wife and I were awakened by a phone call. Her mother, whose health had been failing, was dying. We needed to come to the hospital immediately. What followed was an emotional and stressful morning—especially for my wife, but also for me. I had never seen someone die before. I didn’t […]