Just breathe and remember...

Walking into the Franklin Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency I looked around to see if anyone else was there. The room was empty except for the tables and chairs that were waiting for their covering and decorations for the night. There was no energy or activity felt in the room so I wondered out to the lobby to check equipment, making sure I had everything with me and to wait for others to arrive. As I sat there, I talked to my dad, who only I can hear. No I am not having auditory hallucinations, I just like to believe that my dad is with me wherever I go making sure, as always, that I am staying out of trouble. (Even into my 40s, I always worried about what Dad would think about something I did or wanted to do.) I texted (yes, the old lady can text) my friend, Penny, telling her I thought I was underdressed for the evening. She answered with, "Go buy something dressy then." Simple answer but it made me laugh. "With what? My good looks? I don' t think that would get me a pair of socks with holes in them." Oh well, the night was not about me so why worry about what I was wearing? Clothes were clean and no holes so I'm good. After awhile, I walked into the ballroom and things were starting to liven up. Mary Jenkins, founder of Christians Overcoming Cancer, was there talking with an Air Force officer regarding the evening, the hotel staff was setting up the tables and the Rememberance Dancers were practicing one more time before the guests arrived. You could feel the excitement and importance of the night in the air. Once the ceremony started, I looked around the room to see smiles and tears as the speakers told their stories about how they or a loved one fought or were fighting cancer. How Christians Overcoming Cancer and Mary Jenkins helped them through their fight. I was doing well emotionally and able to focus on taking pictures. (No pun intended.) But for some reason things changed. I heard my dad say, "That's my girl." and the tears came. I remembered my grandfather who had fought cancer for so long and then died when I was 13, my grandmother and her short battle with pancreatic cancer (she died 13 days after diagnosis) and then my dad, who left us in January of this year and the tears came. I felt the grief and happiness of those in attendance and relived my grief all over again. Great, my heart is breaking, eyes are swelling and now I have to take pictures. Hopefully I can control the shaking of my hands long enough to focus. Use the tripod my brain screams or was it Dad laughing at me because I forgot something so simple. Take a deep breath and just breathe. Breathe and remember the good times, smile and be happy that you were able to have these people in your life. Just breathe and remember. Thank you Dad. Just a couple of the rememberance dancers during their performance. What a wonderful dance! I was taking pictures during the video presentation and captured a shot as the video was changing from one image to the next and this is what was created.

This cutie was there to honor the memory of his brother who had lost the battle with cancer just after turning 2.

There was a never a shortage of hugs and support. Remember this handsome face...you may see him in a future Senate race.

To see all the photos from The Night They Remembered please visit www.firstalarmstudio.com and click on view events. I will have them posted by the end of the week.