Category Archives: Mom

Self-Portrait Project: Week 2

I continued this project for one full week, until January 15th.

On that night, my Mom’s health took a very drastic change for the worse. Enough you know at least some of the details of where we were and where we are now, that I won’t go into them here. Maybe at some point in the future I will write about everything we have been through since her diagnosis with lymphoma two days before Thanksgiving through the three miracles we have seen through the process up until where we stand now: no cancer.

However, I think that story belongs as a book, but I’m not sure who would publish the story because nobody would believe it any way.

If you want a good resource for following my Mom’s health, here is a good resource. It is a CaringBridge blog set up by Carla. It isn’t updated daily, but it is updated every couple of days.

Charlotte Bennett’s CaringBridge

She will most likely be at Methodist Medical Center for at least another week. While the cancer is gone, her stomach is still pretty messed up. She is getting her nourishment through an IV and they will have to do a procedure so that she would be able to continue to get nourishment at home before she is dismissed. I would say that nobody knows at this time, what the treatment will ultimately be for her stomach, but while she is in the hospital, you can send her a card through this website, free and easy:

Send Charlotte a Card

Also, Mom has shown some interest in learning about the internet and therefore I have setup an email account for her. She won’t be able to read any of your emails until she gets home from the hospital and I won’t pretend that her emails will be private (so if you send her an email just gushing about how she raised the most awesome young man, I will read it) until she grasps the concept fully, but she will read them at some point.

Here is her email address:

charlotte@photography139.com

Now back to my own self-absorption.

I have restarted the Self-Portrait Project. I can’t say that I will continue this project, but I would like to think that we are in a good place with my Mom right now.

I may try to go back and fill in some of the backdates of blogs that I haven’t filled out over the last couple months. But I make no promises. I haven’t done a Personal Photo Project in weeks. In fact, since Mom was diagnosed, I’ve taken maybe 200 pictures total. 190 of those pictures are of Naima.

However, I have bought a new camera and I hope that it will jumpstart some creative juices. So maybe I’ll pretend like I took pictures for a Personal Photo Project back in December, when in reality, I took those pictures in March.

I also started posting pictures I take with my phone through an Instagram knockoff known as Lightbox on Twitter. I would provide you a link to see the pictures on Lightbox’s website, but you should really be on Twitter, shouldn’t you?

Here are the self-portraits I took through January 15th:



01/09/12 11:12 PM


01/10/12 11:56 PM


01/11/12 7:43 PM


01/12/12 10:14 PM


01/13/12 3:01 PM


01/14/12 11:35 AM


01/15/12 8:31 PM

We’ll see how consistently I’m able to post in the future. We’ll see…

Personal Photo Project of the Week #100


Still Laughing 2012
Still Laughing 2012

There are a lot fewer tulip pictures this year, both the obvious and the weather played a big part in that. In fact, due to the fact that almost all flowers are blooming a month early this year, I’m pretty sure I will miss out on most of the flowers I try to hit every year.

Oh well, c’est la vie!

Here are the rest of the Still Laughing – 2012 Series.


Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

Still Laughing 2012

I didn’t get a chance to photography my grandma’s tulips this year. I also didn’t make my annual road trip to Pella this year. I’m sure both of those things will be on the docket in 2013.

Bennett Family Pictures

This post is somewhat bittersweet as these pictures were taken before my Mom’s diagnosis and while she was still being treated by the incompetent doctor. However, I want to remain positive and since things are progressing positively, there is no reason to dwell on the negative.

When she saw these pictures she was surprised by how thin she was in them, so we will be retaking these pictures again in the Spring after she has been able to put some weight back on and before Johnathan leaves for the Air Force.

Probably sometime around the time of Onion Ring Night.


Personal Photo Project of the Week #95


Before the Swallow Dares
Before the Swallow Dares

These daffodils were in my Mom’s room in Methodist during Daffodil Days. If you don’t know what Daffodils Days is, let me quote from the American Cancer Society Website:

You can give hope to people facing cancer and save lives by supporting the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days program. The Daffodil Days program is your chance to fight back against cancer by raising funds and awareness to help beat the disease. While the Daffodil Days program involves offering daffodils every spring to donors in appreciation for their contributions, it is about more than just giving beautiful flowers – it is everyone’s opportunity to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays, where cancer never steals another year from anyone’s life.
The dollars you raise through the Daffodil Days program do make a difference. Your support allows the American Cancer Society to save lives and create a world with more birthdays by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back against cancer.

Here are more pictures from The Before the Swallow Dares Series:


Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Before the Swallow Dares

Meet the Bennetts

On the Sunday before Labor Day I hosted a little Bennett Family Reunion. Although none of the Fort Dodge Bennetts attended, I think it was a rousing success. It was the first reunion of its kind in at least 20 years. I hope that we can have another one next year.

Here are a few pictures from the day:


Just a couple notes. This was Naima’s first family function and she handled herself wonderfully for only having been in her new home for 5 days. Amazingly, she had yet to discover human food. That turned out to be a short lived nirvana though.

Also, I only wore that horrible Chiefs shirt to honor my cousin Jordan who is the most realistic Chiefs fan I know. So thanks for giving me that shirts Mr. Baier. It was a hit.