"If a man has been his mother's undisputed darling he retains throughout life the triumphant feeling, the confidence in success, which not seldom brings actual success along with it. ~Sigmund Freud"
it was my intention to send my website out into the world today, six or so months after i first began. i'd been banging away for several hours a day lately, reprocessing photos (again) to get them to my liking. the first person i wanted to send my finished site to was my mom. she'd been endlessly supportive and has been prodding me for years to make a go at selling my photographic work. four years ago she even had a tshirt made with one of my photographs on the front- two baby moose running alongside their mother. when i'd hit my wall in dealing with the herniated disc this summer, she dropped what she was doing and flew up here to spend a few days with me. while she was here, we talked about how blessed we are as a family. she remarked that she's been waiting for the "other shoe to drop", or a tragedy to befall us at some point because it was uncanny how lucky we were- the original five of us, then the addition of my sister's husband and the two beautiful children they've brought into the world. i guess i can also include my younger sister's boyfriend, whom we all have already accepted into the family. a lot of people claim to have the best family in the world, but we really do and i'd put mine up against anyone's- and we'd win, and the mvp has always been mom.
my mom had a stroke last night.... as a family, we've never had to deal with something like this- especially without our mvp. i'm 4000 miles away. until i've had and recovered from surgery, it's impossible for me to hop on a flight home to see her and be with the rest of my family. my connection will be limited to phone conversations with my dad and sisters. undoubtedly i'll spend a lot of time thinking about if i can or should continue living so far from them all. i'd never picked up a camera before i moved to alaska five years ago. i was so awed and inspired by this state's natural beauty that i had to capture it however i could- and buying a used canon off of craigslist seemed to be the best way to achieve that. i'd been to and lived in a lot of beautiful locations in my life, but was never moved enough by any of them to own anything more than a disposable kodak. that's what alaska has given me- creative outlet that i haven't had since i was a 9 y/o designing the ultimate boom box with pencil and paper. i can't imagine how i could pursue life as a wildlife and nature photographer while living in southern illinois. this internal discussion will take place in the background as i focus my energies on being a part of my family from 4000 miles away and supporting our mvp the best i can.
after three posts, this blog has already turned way more personal than i intended or expected it to ever be. but, this wouldn't exist at all if it wasn't for the support received from- let alone being brought into this world by- my mother. i felt that at the very least she deserved a mention or dedication of-sorts here.
it was my intention to send my website out into the world today, six or so months after i first began. i'd been banging away for several hours a day lately, reprocessing photos (again) to get them to my liking. the first person i wanted to send my finished site to was my mom. she'd been endlessly supportive and has been prodding me for years to make a go at selling my photographic work. four years ago she even had a tshirt made with one of my photographs on the front- two baby moose running alongside their mother. when i'd hit my wall in dealing with the herniated disc this summer, she dropped what she was doing and flew up here to spend a few days with me. while she was here, we talked about how blessed we are as a family. she remarked that she's been waiting for the "other shoe to drop", or a tragedy to befall us at some point because it was uncanny how lucky we were- the original five of us, then the addition of my sister's husband and the two beautiful children they've brought into the world. i guess i can also include my younger sister's boyfriend, whom we all have already accepted into the family. a lot of people claim to have the best family in the world, but we really do and i'd put mine up against anyone's- and we'd win, and the mvp has always been mom.
my mom had a stroke last night.... as a family, we've never had to deal with something like this- especially without our mvp. i'm 4000 miles away. until i've had and recovered from surgery, it's impossible for me to hop on a flight home to see her and be with the rest of my family. my connection will be limited to phone conversations with my dad and sisters. undoubtedly i'll spend a lot of time thinking about if i can or should continue living so far from them all. i'd never picked up a camera before i moved to alaska five years ago. i was so awed and inspired by this state's natural beauty that i had to capture it however i could- and buying a used canon off of craigslist seemed to be the best way to achieve that. i'd been to and lived in a lot of beautiful locations in my life, but was never moved enough by any of them to own anything more than a disposable kodak. that's what alaska has given me- creative outlet that i haven't had since i was a 9 y/o designing the ultimate boom box with pencil and paper. i can't imagine how i could pursue life as a wildlife and nature photographer while living in southern illinois. this internal discussion will take place in the background as i focus my energies on being a part of my family from 4000 miles away and supporting our mvp the best i can.
after three posts, this blog has already turned way more personal than i intended or expected it to ever be. but, this wouldn't exist at all if it wasn't for the support received from- let alone being brought into this world by- my mother. i felt that at the very least she deserved a mention or dedication of-sorts here.
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