Very inspirational and puts many things into perspective. As others have said, I'm kinda glad there is no photo to accompany the story. My workmates would not appreciate me sobbing uncontrollably.
This shows us the real value a photograph can have. Just a few months ago I was given a photo of a relative who died many years back. It is still sitting on my dresser and I find myself looking at it almost every day. A photograph can be a doorway to our past. Thanks to the OP for sharing this one.
Best,
Andy
I have a small photo of my mother when she was young (deceased now over 10 years) which I have framed and sitting in my sales room. Another portrait I value above all others is a snapshot I took of my baby daughter in 1963 at the age of 1 month. It is the only photo ever taken of her. She died 2 days later, unexpectedly.
When a person seems to think my prices are too high, I point to those portraits and ask them what they think they are worth to me today.
End of objection.
There is no price that can be put on the work you've done for that family. The value of our work far exceeds anything we'll ever get for any work we ever do! That's what keeps me doing it past the age of 70!
The rewards are greater than we can explain!
I'm so very touched about your story and the way you described it. My daugther was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She asked me to take a family photo last weeked - before she loses her hair. She begins chemo on Monday. I really didn't think too much about the images I took... until I read your story! Thank you.
Glort-
Thanks so much for your story. My father currently has terminal lung cancer. I know how difficult it is for me as an adult to watch my dad and family go thru this. I also know how important photographs have become. The older I get I realize people and things happen, and come together, for a reason...you were meant to do that for this family.
They will cherish your gift for years to come!
Rodolfo,
I'm afraid I never got any message from you, Please try to send it again or PM me through here.
To the people that have loved ones that are ill, I know what you are going through and my thoughts and best wishes are with you.
You only die of 2 things it seems in my family, car accidents and cancer.
One tends to be instant ( in my unfortunate experiences) and the other is far slower.
Both are incredibly painful ways to loose a loved one and there is nothing anyone can say or do to make the agony go away. In time, one can feel better but in some cases such as when I lost my 18 yo brother, time can also make you feel like you are moving away and leaving someone behind. Unfortunately life has a lot of death in it and we have no option to deal with it however best we can.
While I have lost people to cancer and known what was on the cards for people I loved, they were at least of a mature age and those closest to them had reached adulthood and could fend for themselves as it were.
The thing that cracks me up about this family is those 2 little kids that are going to loose a mother that just wants to be around to take care of them and help them grow up. Then there is the loving father who will be robbed of so much he is more than entitled to that will be so stressed not only for his loss but the grief of his kids he would do anything to spare them from but is helpless to do that.
I know I used to do a lot of dangerous things and didn't worry about myself much but the one thing that stopped me was when my kids came along and the fear that I might not be around to give them all the protection I could and look after them for whatever they needed.
What this woman must have gone through picking out clothes for her kids to wear to her funeral, brings a lot of tears to my eyes every time I think about it and is a cruelty that is surely beyond description.
Mothers buy clothes for their kids for special occasions every day and look forward to seeing them wear them with expectations of a good and memorable time but how does a mother do that for her children knowing that occasion will mark her own demise and she will never see her kids in those clothes or for that matter, ever again.
I know she was happy to see the kids wear those clothes for the pictures which was something unexpected and gave her joy and comfort and the pictures were something special that also gave her a sense of peace, but damn if I don't find that insanely cold comfort and of so little consolation in this whole disgusting tragedy that should never happen.
Thanks for all for the comments. They are very much appreciated.
you *were* a hero for that family today. you have a wonderful way with words and i appreciate you sharing the story. i tell my wife every single day how blessed and fortunate i feel. your story makes me feel more so...
glort wrote:
Rodolfo,
I'm afraid I never got any message from you, Please try to send it again or PM me through here.
Just for the info, I sent it via the "email" button in one of your posts here on FM. Maybe there's an issue with the address you have on file, or with FM's mail server. But no matter.
My business is to help family businesses with the big picture: to make sure that a happy and united family, with clear and committed owners, run a professional and successful business (that then gives the family stability and the owners increased wealth), so everyone comes out ahead. Contrary to tabloid perceptions, most family businesses are extremely solid and well-run... it's so rare to have one melt down that they always make the news, so John Q. Public gets a very jaundiced view of things.
Anyway, these prople work their tails off, because it's not just a job where they can quit and get a golden parachute. Hell no. It's their life, their legacy, what they hope their grandchildren will still be running. So of course they work hard... a few of them, way too hard, and the family life suffers. Often they don't get any warning of how unbalanced they've been until their marriage or their kids are already wrecked.
I think your story would help me remind some of those clients of what questions they should ask themselves to see if their lives are in balance, or if they're going very fast but in the wrong direction. My email to you was to request your permission to reprint it and share it with them, and for you to please send me your real name and contact info if you wanted to share it, so I could properly attribute the story to you.
If anyone wants to use this story, please feel free to do so.
My name is David.
I just spoke to my friend and asked how the mother is.
Apparently she had to go back to hospital the day after the photos were taken suffering from exhaustion among other things related to her illness.
My friend said she was not in a good way but had been there before many times and had come back to do things she never thought she could like the photo's although now it is just a matter of time.
I hope for the best for her and her family, I just have no idea what that is.
