So off to the hospital we went to pay him a visit. The trip up there was good because my wife offered to drive, and I photographed the entire way up there. We have a sun roof in our car and today there were the most amazing clouds to photograph. Upon arriving, I could feel my stomach start to churn as I anticipated the hospital smell. It makes me want to run as fast as I can into a big open area where the walls can't close in on me and siphon my life away. This hospital was a bit different in that it was filled with wonderful art hanging on the hallway walls. Everything from photography to, pastels, water color, and installation art. We wound our way down long hallways toward the elevator. My wife and daughters stepped in first and I lagged behind a bit feeling claustrophobic. After an uneasy moment; I stepped in too and she pressed the number of his floor, and the door to this metal box slid shut. My heart was in my throat as I was not looking forward to seeing him in a hospital bed. Plus, I knew that I would probably see other sick people too. Many of them would have no visitors and that lonely thought was nearly unbearable to me.
Finally, the cold steel door opened and me and my emotions spilled out first into the hallway. Immediately, I was treated with a stellar view out two enormous windows looking down to the world below. Instantly, I felt better knowing that I would have good subject matter for today's image. Plus it just felt good to be bathed in bright light and look beyond the confines of the stuffy hospital with nice art. We made our way down another hallway toward his room. I was purposely flooding my mind with random thoughts to keep my thinking off what I was feeling. Then we arrived at his door, and I swallowed hard as we walked in. He was laying back in bed and my wife's mom was sitting by his side. My uneasiness left me as soon as I made eye contact with him. Laying there was a man who obviously had been through a lot, but I could see life was still strong in his eyes. Immediately I started in on him. "How you feeling Pops", I asked? "Not to bad, but I'm having some trouble seeing", he replied. "Well don't worry; I'm just as beautiful as I was the last time you saw me", I joked. He gave me a wry smile and said, "I don't know about that". It was good to be jousting with the big stern Irish man that I nervously asked for his daughters hand many years ago.
After some good conversation, I excused myself to go photograph for a while. Heading back to the elevators I realized that there was a cafe on the roof. So that's where I headed in hopes of getting an Eagle eye view of the city. Unfortunately, the cafe had four thousand miles of safety rail and it made photographing very difficult. Back I went toward that big window to try and capture something interesting. From where I stood, there was a cool helicopter on the roof, but the lights from inside the hospital reflected and they were in my frame. Looking down at the court yard I saw this interesting shadow and design of the tile sort of framing in the tables and flower pots. The light was harsh so I assumed it would be a good black and white image. After shooting a few more things, I headed back to join my family. We all sat around and had some good conversation, and I told Pops to make sure and listen to his Doctors, so we could go to Ireland next year. "Gonna have to", he said. "Well you better because you have a grand daughter on the way", I reminded him. It was getting late and knew that Pops needed some rest, so we decided to head home. We all said our goodbyes and walked out of his room. It turned out to be a good experience even though I still hate hospitals, but I'm thankful that they are their and for the people who helped my Pops in his time of need. Mostly, I want to say thank you Lord for seeing Pops through this, and please hold him in the palm of your hand in the days ahead.
Happy Shooting.
No comments:
Post a Comment