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description= Stories of connection and healing by David LaBelle;
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Text of the page (random words):
friend who takes a little while to get to know but once you know her there is a sweet and beautiful kindness you remind me of what a friend said about the women in israel they can be prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside me i think you are sweeter now than you have ever been and shouldn t it be that way shouldn t we get sweeter with age therese oh really me i think i am sweeter now than i have ever been too because i have been given enough time to learn what s of value what is important therese you re the kind of guy that notices these things others would not me i think that god gave me a compassionate heart that i could see you therese i don t think he has that in line tickled she can t contain herself and begins laughing we talk for over an hour and our conversation leads to burial me when i die i would like to be buried in one of those natural garden places where the bugs and worms eat me she laughs and laughs therese i ve been debating that for a long time how to be buried whether i want an open casket therese how long if they go to a morgue would they leave the body me i don t have that answer therese what happened to you do you know how long that is a month whenever you went to denver you didn t even talk to me about the baseball game me have you ever wondered why we became friends me maybe we are where we are supposed to be maybe you need to me more experiences to teach you more patience maybe i need you to help me maybe we need each other therese i don t know how i could both of us laugh me i guarantee you you are more patient now than when i first met you you didn t know me me i think the loving side of you came out because you don t have control you have to depend on other people isn t that true theresa yeah yeah therese i was so totally independent then all of a sudden you can t go to the bathroom by yourself me so maybe that s part of the lesson i share with her how my father was independent and could be stubborn even mean until he was no longer able to care for himself in his final years he was much kinder and tolerant i never thought his pride would allow him be helped by his children therese slips back to her complaining self she is working on overcoming therese the men here are so crabby there isn t a nice man in here there is one man without saying anything he looks at me all the time her face contorts me maybe he s not getting any lovin nobody kissing on him tickled she can t contain herself and begins laughing therese i don t think that s it jan 28 2025 me is there a stranger behind you therese i don t know who is behind me me a stranger who you haven t seen in forever i was in california the past 6 weeks therese oh david oh my goodness david i thought about you so much my heart melts with her sincere and unusual outburst of emotion as she reaches for my hand therese i wondered what happened to you after you quit coming i thought well one of these days he will walk in me thank you therese i thought you moved away i have a son that moved out to montana he bought 20 acres and built a house me you ve had a birthday since i last saw you i am so glad to see you are doing well therese was better more lucid than when i left in early december must have changed meds she was not as confused me how is your foot therese if i could get this leg walking i would go back anytime had i not fallen i would still be there and it was such a simple fall me isn t it crazy how a small thing can change your life i pushed her out to a table eat lunch feb 1 2025 me i don t know how much time god gives either one of us but we should take advantage of the time we have and seeing you is an important part of my life i love seeing you it fills something within me as long as god lets me i ll keep doing it me i would rather talk about christ than about anyone or anything else but photography has always been the door the apostle paul made tents photography has been my tent making photography and writing is what i do but it s not who i am i reassured therese that her life had been important and one of service me you ve had a lovely life and you have a lovely life now every day we should thank god that we have what we have therese yes she whispers her voice is faint i am holding her hand and move very close to hear me you raised smart and loving children and now you have me to balance that out she laughs therese what they did on their own was their own me the way people stay positive whatever happens in their life they take it in stride i can t change it so i am going to be thankful and i am going to deal with whatever i have tears in her eyes she confesses not expressing her emotions to her children was one of the few things she said she regretted in her long life therese sometimes that s hard because you can t do anything about it me worrying about it doesn t change one thing me i think we should have a prayer that god will help both of us me it s hard thinking about the past it s hard to accept it but you can t do anything about it except to be patient and loving therese i m glad you came back tears are filling my eyes me i am glad i came back too me isn t love a wonderful thing therese it helps me not be depressed me i am glad if i can help you not be depressed i want to do that honey i will come and do whatever i can feb 24 2025 me good afternoon i call out as i enter her room me are you decent therese no you can t come in yet i have no makeup on yet she is a wheelchair in the bathroom putting on her makeup an aid comes in to help me the sun is shining here a beautiful sun me i didn t make one picture yet today i reach for my camera therese no it s not worth it today i don t feel like i look very good today she laughs me if you don t feel comfortable i won t do it today i put the camera down me but when i see you it will make me in a better mood therese oh sure she rolls her eyes sarcastically therese i thought i would get a call from you on valentines day me i would have called but then all of your friends would have thought you had a boyfriend me actually i wanted to come see you on valentine s day she looks up at me earnestly a little disappointed therese i thought maybe you would come by therese i thought you wouldn t come back since it didn t go so well last time at lunch i don t know why they wouldn t let you eat me no i wanted to come see you i haven t abandoned you yet yet she laughs me you are not rid of me yet therese that s nice me besides my wife doesn t mind if i have a second valentine therese what did you get her for valentine s day therese she must be very understanding march 1 2025 me why did you get disgusted i just can t help it therese i can t go up to mass a virus won t let people gather therese any news me i went to wisconsin last night to a lacrosse game it was freezing i got home at 11pm me i see you are wearing blue and purple your favorite colors therese one of the aids said my voice sounds sassy so i said sorry i won t talk therese i never sound sassy my voice is my voice but it s getting lesser and lesser me today it is 26 degrees yesterday it was up to 50 me what do you remember about your mother therese working i was 21 when i got married and i don t remember the funeral i can t remember my mother ever giving me a kiss it was a time and some families were just that way some showed emotion and some didn t therese we never ever said i love you me not your mother or father theres nope me do you wish they would have therese oh yes me i am sure ray told you he loved you me i was at least 40 years old before my dad ever told me he loved me and that was because i told him otherwise he might never have said it to me therese we never said that me you felt loved didn t you therese we all got along we didn t fight with each other or anything like that me the light on you is so pretty right now may 29 2025 therese had a bad fall the left a gash above her right eye that was now about healed but she was clearly beginning to fail and i feared i might not see her again i was to going out of town to a photography workshop in minneapolis and would not be back until april 5th when i called to check on therese bec informed me that her mother had passed on april 3rd while sometimes finding time to drive to dubuque and see therese was difficult i cried knowing i would miss her and our weekly visits march 29 2025 my last visit with my friend some final thoughts it took six months before therese felt comfortable telling me she loved me i wasn t raised that way nobody showed emotion in my family we loved each other but didn t say it she said to more than once he eyes filling she confessed not expressing her emotions to her children was one of the few things she said she regretted in her long life it took six months before therese felt comfortable telling me she loved me i wasn t raised that way nobody showed emotion in my family we loved each other but didn t say it she said to more than once he eyes filling she confessed not expressing her emotions to her children was one of the few things she said she regretted in her long life knowing how much she believed in proper dress i wore a suit jacket and tie to her funeral i am confident she would be pleased therese reicher a lovely lady jan 4 1927 april 3 2025 tagged christianity faith god jesus prayer a father s love posted on april 14 2025 by labelledave 3 by dave labelle some photographers find their greatest joy and even purpose in documenting nature or wildlife or exotic places others are drawn to portraiture i am drawn to story telling moments of love and support this past week while photographing two clarke university lacrosse games i witnessed a painful yet beautiful scene after a crushing loss as the disappointed team walked past up a small incline to the makeshift locker room a father son and friend collapsed at the edge of the gravel and grass together in sorrow 2025 copyright photo by dave labelle moved by the emotional support of the father but unaware of the depth of the pain i made five or six pictures later that evening i learned there was more to the picture than meets the eye sophomore logan dedrick s grandfather had died the night before and he had just been told i called and talked with logan s father rick dedrick the next day we didn t want him to be alone when he learned of his grandfather s passing said dedrick dedrick who had traveled several hundred miles along with his sister to watch his son play two out of state lacrosse games didn t want to tell logan his grandfather had died not before an important game that would likely determine whether or not the team would make the playoffs then after the game which the team lost dedrick asked logan s best friend and teammate xavier howard to join him in breaking the news to his son logan and x xavier are really close so i pulled him aside and said hey bud i am going to need you here shared dedrick he s my little brother i got it x assured it was emotional and i had to tell him right then and there said dedrick there is no good time to really tell stuff like that he broke down he was hurt obviously dedrick said he believes people need healing sometimes and sharing pictures like this helps other people there was something about mary posted on february 13 2025 by labelledave 16 by dave labelle i met mary rettmann in july of 2011 while conducting a photography workshop in chanute kansas with students from kent state driving one of those long dusty country roads i spotted her sitting on her front porch near altoona kansas her weathered face looked as if it belonged on a kansas magazine cover mary rettmann on her farm porch in 2011 i stopped and talked with mary and shared that i once worked for the chanute tribune many years earlier and was now teaching in ohio i learned she had retired after working 27 years as postmaster for the small altoona town where i made one of my more memorable pictures in 1979 of a 4 th of july baby contest she shared that her husband of 56 years charles passed in 2008 at the age of 90 and she had lived alone on the farm since with no plans of leaving mary also told me she had two grown children a son in chanute and daughter in texas i met glenn two years younger than me later that week we talked nearly an hour and the i asked if i could make a few pictures of her though she clearly wasn t someone who liked a lot of attention she agreed i made sure to send her some of my favorites along with a letter when i returned to ohio we became immediate long distance friends and for the next 12 years i would call her at least once a year near or on her may 29 th birthday she also she called and wrote to me on several occasions i also made sure to visit her anytime i was in kansas and even brought my youngest son henry to meet her and we spent the afternoon with her in mid may of 2021 two weeks before her 89 th birthday sadly her son glenn an important support had passed away in march of 2020 mary in 2021 about two weeks before her 89th birthday last year in kansas while in wichita for a photography workshop i decided to make the 100 mile trip to altoona before heading to atchison kansas to photograph a lacrosse meet it was a bit out of the way but it had been a year since i had seen or talked with mary and since i had forgotten to call her on her 90 th birthday i was determined to surprise her during my last visit with mary she said she hoped to live out her last years on the farm when i arrived her car wasn t under the small carport and she was nowhere around i knocked several times loudly i figured she probably went to town so as i had done times i sat on the porch and enjoyed the sunshine and a soft breeze and waited after nearly an hour i decided to leave her a note about then i heard a tractor coming up the gravel road and watched it turn into mary s yard a neighbor a young woman was driving so i flagged her down she shut off the machine and climbed down i told her my name and said i had come to see mary something i periodically did when i was in kansas is she around maybe in town i don t see her car mary died last year the neighbor advised she died at home the way she wanted it my heart dropped i guess foolishly convinced myself she would always be there i miss mary even though we usually only talked once a year we had some deep and meaningful conversations we talked about god and faith government and how the fast paced world was changing and not for the better she reminded me how she used to take long walks along the endless country road near her house but it had become too dangerous now with too many vehicles speeding past she was content with her life still taking a daily walk across the fields of her property one of her wishes she expressed to me was to stay home and die on the farm and not be put in a nursing facility thankfully god granted her wish mary is one of a dozen or so widowed woman i have befriended and photographed thru the years i have counted each as a dear fr...
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