Photo of the Week 2016-05-09

It's been a year of reflection and much has changed since Mother's Day last year. Approaching the anniversary of my mom's passing, I often find myself deep in thought, reflecting on the journey that has brought me to here and now. There are a number of triggers that send me off again ...

... like when a cousin recently asked if I would go through my family photos to see if there were any of my aunt to use for a slide show at the celebration of life service they had planned. Every time I go back into the albums and envelopes I'm in for an adventure. This time, I found a small B&W photo of my mother holding me in her arms. I couldn't have been taken very long after I came home from the hospital for the first time. Finding this is what moved me to go and visit the Riverdale area of Toronto last week. To the area where mom and dad lived when I was born (last week's Photo of the Week was a result of that trip) ...

... I also knew that with Mother's Day coming up, I had to scan and post the image in memory of her. Once I began cleaning up the file from the scan, I noticed the back of a chair over her right shoulder, there was something familiar about that chair ... I'm not sure how, from such a small section of it, but I recognized it as one I kept when mom moved out of the house ... an idea for an image began to form. I had the thought of incorporating the chair as a link between a photo made now and the original B&W. It was a little more challenging that I had first expected and didn't work out exactly as I had planned, but it sure was an interesting exercise.

 Here is the result.

then and now

... the original B&W
















DJE

One Last Walk

On the day before I lay you to rest,
I asked you to come with me in spirit as we took one last walk,
That walk we were planning to do,
Now that spring sun had replaced winters chill.

the sun shone, 

we saw butter cups,
heard birds sing 

I shed tears and felt you with me

As you go now to be with dad, know you have my everlasting love and thanks for everything
...and for one last walk.

Doug

Photo of the Week 2014-05-12 ... well, actually May 11, Mothers Day

Recently, in an email I received from a friend responding to my Photo of the Week Blog posts, there was some thoughtful feedback.  Plus someone I had not heard from in a while had taken the time to write and comment about a number of my images. In particular, there was mention of how she enjoyed my non-nature work, how she "would like to see what I could bring to everyday things" and the suggestion to maybe "get out of the woods for a while".

It's always nice to friends and I appreciated the sincerity of the email. It got me thinking and although I'm sure I won't be out of the woods for long, I did focus on something different this weekend.

Mothers Day 2014

I challenged myself to create an image from my Mothers day visit with Mom, that would convey the feeling of our time together and the relationship we enjoy. I'm satisfied with the result. 

Thanks for the suggestion Janice ;-)

Photo of the Week 2013-05-13

Holding on to memories ...

... it can be a challenge for the elderly. Mom was always sharp mentally, that is until the last couple of years when her diabetes became too much for her to manage by herself. For more than 30 years, with help from Dad, she had managed her blood sugar level by strictly following diet guidelines, testing her blood and giving herself four insulin injections per day. Just over a year ago, living on her own in a seniors residence, things changed.

Her "brittle diabetic" condition got away from her and she was hospitalized with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis), on three occasions. On the last, I just about lost her. She was in ICU for over a week and unresponsive for the first several days as medical staff helped her fight to stay alive. Her body chemistry was way out of whack and more than once I questioned what impact it would have when and if she recovered.

She did recover but it would no longer be possible for her to live on her own and she moved to a long term care facility. Sadly, she had lost some of that mental edge she always had. Now, when I visit, we do crossword puzzles together to help keep her mind active. We also talk a lot about what is going on with her grandsons and of things past.

On Mother's Day, I took some of my photos to look at so she could see what I've been up to. We talked about them and a reprint I had made of a portrait my Dad took of her a long time ago.
 

We talked about how much Dad enjoyed photography and taking her picture whenever she got dressed up. Mom said she remembered having her photograph taken wearing the blouse she has on in the the photograph she is holding. I posted that image and a blog post for Mother's Day yesterday. I also planned to make an image of her with that photo that would capture the mood as she relived the memories.

All visits with mom are special, but on Mother's Day this past Sunday, it was extra special.

DJE

GRACE - for Mother's Day

When Mom moved from the house back on '06, we went through Dad's darkroom and more photos than you can imagine. During the next few years she organized, arranged and culled the family photo collection down to albums from vacations and trips and a collection of shots from over the years. When she had to move into a nursing home last year, we had to downsize her belongings completely. I kept the family photo collection. There are three boxes of the photo albums that she had assembled and a bunch of loose prints, some small snap shot, some larger prints from Dad's darkroom. 

Mom was always a patient model for Dad through the years. This is one of the prints from Dad, I believe it is from the early '50's when mom was around 20 (scanned from a 4x5 print, frame outline and title in CS6)

Happy Mother's Day.

DJE