In August of 2008, 4 days before his 60th birthday, my Dad was diagnosed with a very rare disease. The disease, amyloidosis, is treatable but not curable. My Dad had previously been a very active and healthy individual. We were optimistic that the treatment would be effective. We expected a few bumps in the road but really thought that once the disease was under control it could be kept "in check" with medication and life would pretty much go on as "normal".
Well, life did not go on as normal. In the fall of 2008, my Dad had his first very serious complication. While we were in WDW, my Dad's health declined significantly and he was put into ICU. He had a punctured colon, blood clots in his lung and various other complications. We really did not expect Dad to make it until Thanksgiving. But, he did and he recovered fairly well.
After that initial serious complication, there were other hurdles including a broken hip, multiple hospitalizations, etc. This was incredibly hard on all of us. My Dad had never even been in a hospital before all of this. He still owned a business, was an avid outdoorsman, active in the community, etc. So, this turn of events was really hard for all of us to accept.
Fast forward to this past fall, as we were getting ready to go to WDW again in November of 2009, I began to notice a significant decline in my Dad's overall health. The doctor kept telling us his blood work looked good and he was doing as well as could be expected given his disease and the complications he had. However, I know my Dad and I knew that something significant had changed. We elected to go on our trip based on the information we were getting from the Dr. I usually saw my Dad every few days so after being gone a week, I could really see he was continuing to decline. And on December 7, he passed away.
How is this photography related? I'm not sure. But, I just can't really seem to get back in to my photography mojo. Over the past year, I took very few photos of my Dad other than a few posed group shots. I just looked at this old frail man and kept thinking that was not my Dad and quite honestly, I did not want to remember him that way.
This is how I want to remember him - as my kids' Papa
Who always gave piggy back rides
And loved to have his grandkids close by
Throughout my Dad's illness, I maintained a blog to keep friends and family updated on his condition. That became my outlet in coping with Dad's illness. Now that chapter has ended, so I am hoping to be able to get back into my photography a little more. My photos over the last year just looked flat and boring to me. I'm looking to get refocused this year and see things from a different perspective.
