Driving back to the house, I suddenly began to cry almost uncontrollably. The full “I have cancer” punch hit me, and I was terrified of the grueling days ahead. Every possible horror-story scenario of chemotherapy flashed before me — vomiting, weakness, baldness, you name it — coupled with the vague fear of the possibility that all this medicine might not actually get rid of the killer inside my body. As Edna drove up Route 29 back to the house, I couldn't even see the road through my tears. She cried too, sharing my anxiety.

Twelve months later, I am much more sanguine about the experience, and about my life. Yes, there were low points during my several months of cancer fighting. But I got through it, and I might have learned a few things about myself and about the people around me.

A lot of people, some of them nearly strangers to me, offered a lot of support and encouragement. Normally I like to be left alone, but it turns out that I really found this to be quite helpful. Lots of people came to visit me, for which I’m really grateful. Photographing everybody in The Basement Gallery (by the way, check out the new editions) was a very helpful outlet for me, and was a fun way to “connect” everyone who stopped in.

Because I had that little bit of practice on my friends, it was a bit easier to resume taking pictures once I felt well enough. And now I’m shooting at a fifth-grade level!

In late March, as I started working again, I was able to go see a couple of folks whom I hadn’t talked to in years, like my old high school chum Archie (shown here with his mom). And those couples who had been keeping up with me during treatment, whose weddings were now approaching, were unbelievably nice and caring. There was Caroline & Craig, two sets of Jennifers & Mikes, Tom & Heidi, and Mariska & Aaron. What fun it was spending time with all those folks and their families and friends, watching them celebrate one of the happiest days of their lives. In July I had a fun wedding on the Eastern Shore with a young couple from Pennsylvania, Jennifer & Andy, who went out on a skipjack (an old oyster-dredging boat) and then had a crab feast after their ceremony.

A week after the crab feast I had a very special wedding in Baltimore, when Amanda Kay married Ross Kramer. Amanda did something that really blew me away, earlier in the spring. She ran in a triathlon down in Florida for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and she had my name on her jersey as she swam and biked and ran all over Saint Petersburg. That’s her shown here, with one of her bridesmaids, Kate, who also ran in the event. I met with Kate and Amanda when the latter hired me about two weeks before I was diagnosed, and in many ways we didn’t know each other very well. But she will always be very important to me, for having performed this amazing gesture.

At the end of August I went out to West Virginia for a wonderful celebration there, spending a couple days in the state capital with the nicest group of people you could ever want to hang around with.

Now that I’m “back up to speed,” it almost seems like I’ve got too much on my plate again. I certainly can’t afford to get sick with everything I have planned. This summer, in addition to shooting, I’ve had my son visit here, been up to Cape Cod to see some family, been out to Indiana to see even more family members at the Graves Reunion, and in another couple weeks I fly out to New Mexico to spend a few days with my parents. And it turns out that I’ve been on boats more this summer than I have in about 20 years, including a fun afternoon on the Severn River with Hane and Larry, seen here.


In the back of my mind, I still think about cancer, many times each day. Not only could it maybe come back for me, though I don’t plan on it, but I have friends and family members who are living with cancer right now. Andy Pergam, who sent me the fantastic red pajamas seen here, has just finished going through radiation treatments, and one of my aunts, Mary Esther, has been undergoing treatment for her recurrence of cancer. So even though I feel pretty good, I don’t take that gift lightly.

My six-month checkup (CT scan, blood work, doctor visit) showed me to be free of cancer, though they can never say that with 100% certainty. In fact my doctor’s biggest concern at the time was my high cholesterol, for which I now take a daily pill. At least it’s the kind that Captain Picard advertises, not the stuff that Mandy Patinkin touts, though don’t get me wrong, I loved him in “The Princess Bride.” And I’m reading the labels of everything I eat. Sad as it is to admit, my Pop-Tart® days may be behind me.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

My nine-month checkup is next week. Maybe if my cholesterol is lower, I’ll treat myself to just one Pop-Tart. But I will continue to be glad that I don’t have cancer anymore.

If all goes as I hope, this should by my last update.

Wish me luck.