Good grief...it's been a long time since I've written anything here.  I think I have been intimidated by all of my web savvy friends who have developed such high tech blogs.  Oh well, it's bland, but here goes...

Not too long ago, a good friend and I stopped in to visit my Mom.  She was at work, but had time to talk (benefits of being the owner).  We got into a conversation about my Aunt's cancer and this spurred Mom to tell us in detail of all the people that she knows who have been "burned up" by chemotherapy (I know, it's radiation, not chemotherapy, but bear with me).  I always complain that everytime I talk to my Mom all she wants to talk about is who has died, who's sick, what horrible thing is the latest news headline, or how she's tired of supporting all the people on welfare.  Most of the time I just get aggravated with her outlook and wonder how in the world I ended up being as optimistic as I usually am.  Sometimes I say it's purely rebellion, but honestly, it's the grace of God.  When I really think about it, I realize that in addition to a hard life sometimes physically and oftentimes emotionally, Mom has never really had an optimistic influence in her life.  Not a lasting one anyway.  I don't know if I could be that, but maybe I should try a little harder instead of being so judgmental all the time.  It's just that judgmental is so much easier.

I started thinking more about this because of an email that I received today.  Last weekend I had the opportunity to photograph the Dragon Boat Festival in Chattanooga. (you can see pictures at www.imagesoflove.instaproofs.com)  It's a fundraiser for Children's Hospital involving people racing these canoe like boats down the river.  There were 4 professional teams there and they all had something in common.  They were all cancer survivors, the majority of them breast cancer survivors.  These people had more spirit and drive than I can possibly put into words.  They came from Atlanta and Charleston and they travel all over entering in these races.  Some of them are even going to Australia for the Nationals!  In corresponding with one of the ladies about pictures, I simply asked if she had enjoyed the event.  This was her response:

My wish for all of you is that you not be on the road when she's in that 18 wheeler because she likes to drive on both sides.  Her theory is she paid for the whole thing, she should get to use it.....