Determination.

"May we all do a little bit better than the first time

Learn a little something from the worst times

Get a little stronger from the hurt times."

This morning there was a CBS segment on Facebook called, "On The Road." They have been doing this piece for some time, and every time I see one, it takes me to a place I really treasure. The segments are usually heartwarming and very uplifting—-the reporter, Steve Hartman, has a voice that just sucks you into the story. 

The one I watched today was one I had seen before. It was about two young teenagers who both had Cancer. They were both in high school and through a very unfortunate commonality, became very tight friends. Only one recovered. The feature had to do with a high school basketball game where the surviving young man played in his last game. (He had recovered and played basketball again.) Not to spoil the story, the coach did something very inspiring; he asked the players to place the names of people who were very important to them on a basketball. The ball was at the game, and each player touched it before tip off. The rest is to be watched. (YouTube Jan. 25th, 2014.) You'll be glad you did.

Stories like this are what bring out the good in people. Whether intentional or not, "good deeds can go unpunished and be appreciated." Let's hope so at least.

The story on CBS reminded me of a young woman who did something phenomenal for her family and specifically for her Dad. In honor of the fight her Dad was going through, she went the extra mile—-actually 26.2 of them and participated in a fund raiser for Project Purple by running a marathon. You see, her Dad had Pancreatic Cancer and whereas he fought it "tooth and nail," no one really knew how long he would be up for it. Turned out, he was quite a fighter and went for many rounds.

We have known their family for some time, and we had gotten to know their oldest daughter this past summer when she watch our younger daughters while my wife was out of town. This young woman is very kind, caring and one heck of a soccer player. (Her sisters and Mom are the same---the apple did not fall far from the tree.)

Despite his fight, her Dad passed away this past year. Much too young, and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Honestly, with his drive and determination, I think he intimidated Cancer because he would not give up—he was that kind of a guy.

This past spring I received a phone call from his wife; she asked if my wife and I would be interested in doing a family photo shoot in downtown Chicago last minute. I remember after I hung up—tears were streaming down my cheeks. What an honor to be asked, and how was I going to make sure this was not screwed up? Fortunately, when you are photographing a beautiful family, the camera falls in love—my Nikon had a crush on them. When it was done, I was sad. I knew they had to leave to go to a wedding, but I desperately wanted to keep taking pictures as I knew these were going to be very important. 

The photo above is from last spring's photo shoot. It was not the first time we had taken family photos for them, but this time was the most important---for all the photos we have taken, these are some of the best we will ever capture.

Thanks for stopping by.