Marie and Jerry
Originally uploaded by Kodamakitty.
I don't really call myself a photographer. Not yet, anyway - I *think* I am getting there. What I do know is that I love taking pictures, and I am constantly amazed at what turns out and how well.
(By the way, I happen to think of my liking taking photos as a great example of sublimation - my mom would designate me as our family's photographer with the admonition that I had to take at least one shot of each person, preferably solo, and specifically in landscape or portrait, depending on which way the openings went in her album that year. It was very much a "love it or leave it," scenario. After a while, like 10 years or so, it just became a matter of course.)
As some of you may know from Geoffrey's blog, his grandfather, Jerry, is in the nursing home under hospice for liver cancer. Jerry is 87 and by most accounts he's had a good life and has cheated death at least three or four times. He's also infamous for being a tiny bit curmudgeonly and a lot stubborn. So it's no surprise that he's getting through each day, but for his family it's hard to watch him fade away.
Which brings me to this picture. Taken in July of 2006, it's the quintessential Jerry and Marie photo and a rare one where they are both smiling. Marie had cracked up that I had decided to have an indoor picnic, which is where the red and white checkered tablecloth came from, along with a big wicker basket. Given the family's Italian/Irish/European mix, it all just seems so, well, them. Even the wood paneling and the knick knack shelf seem just right.
I gave everyone copies of this photo for Christmas and Geoff's mom lent hers to Jerry to keep at his bedside. I do believe in prayers and providence and a huge helping of luck as well as at the very least, I can make people laugh when I take their picture. Whatever you may call any great big good thing at play in the universe, it's hard to deny that I was blessed to be in the right place, at the right time, with the just right amount of lighting and that I didn't cast a huge shadow (my back is to a large sliding door).
This is how I will always remember Marie and Jerry.
^_^
2 comments:
It is a good shot. I'm thankful you got it when you did. Grandpa looks younger and healthier in that picture than he had and, of course, than he does now.
Just for comparison sake, I've uploaded shots we have of my grandparents (a portrait of my grandmother, Marie, and a shot of my grandfather, Jerry) from their late teens, early twenties. It's interesting to look at.
Thanks again for the picture, sweetie. :)
I love you, Geoffrey!
^_^
Post a Comment