Giving back
The Klingbeil Family
When my friend and fellow Argentine tango dancer Shandy Potes Mangra asked me to take some family photos for clients of the nonprofit Angel Foundation, which supports adults diagnosed with cancer, I said I’d be happy to do so. Then she told me it would be unpaid, and I said regretfully that I couldn’t do it. I have to make money from my photography to keep it going, I explained. She said she understood, and thanked me.
My assistant, Susan Martin, left, with Angel Foundation Health Equity & Community Outreach Manager Shandy Potes Mangra.
When I thought about it some more, I got a visit from the spirit of my late wife, who died in 2014 from frontotemporal dementia and ALS. After she died, I vowed that going forward, if I was ever asked to do something new I’d say yes — unless I had a good reason to say no. I told Shandy I had changed my mind.
Naomi Moturi, adult and family programs manager for the Angel Foundation, scheduled the shoot for 5-8 p.m. on Sept. 21. Initially, 24 families with 111 members had signed up for the “Making Memories” photo session! I was starting to dread the assignment. As it approached, however, Moturi said the list had dwindled to 16 families and that fewer than a dozen might show up. These families are dealing with incredible stressors and illness, so that’s not unusual, she said. I was relieved.
The Pressgrove Family
My assistant, Susan Martin, helped me set up an hour ahead of schedule and we waited. No one showed for the first hour. Only five families arrived in the remaining two hours. One arrived in three cars, with 19 members, ranging from infants to adults. (They noted that several others couldn’t make it!)
The Page Family
The Schuldt family
Despite the low turnout, Susan and I got a lot out of this assignment. We met some wonderful families and shared in their circles, if only briefly. No one mentioned the gorilla in the room: cancer. They simply enjoyed one another, and it showed.
The Pezerovic family
While I cannot afford to do this kind of work for free very often, I’m glad I agreed to do it this time. So many things are worth more than money.
