With Hope the Odds Don't Matter - The Story of a Mom and Cancer Survivor

A few months ago I received an email from a man named Cameron who was interested in writing a story about his wife's cancer survival for my blog.  He had read my story about my dad's battle with cancer, which you can find here and thought his wife's story may be of interest to you.

You can find his story, The Heartbreak of Caring for a Cancer Patient, here.  It was truly my honor to post his story on my blog and I was equally humbled when he recently contacted me again to share this video of his wife's amazing attitude despite getting a terrifying diagnosis when their beautiful new baby girl was only 3 months old.  

Watch Heather's video and share it with your friends!  It's an important message and since most of us are touched by cancer in some way, it is imperative that we help spread her story of hope for others to be inspired by!



Has your family been touched by cancer?  (The more appropriate phrase would be "smacked upside the head" or "kicked in the gut" by cancer).  Please share your story of hope in the comments below.  I would love to read them!

You can find Heather's page on the Mesothelioma website here.  

Cameron & Heather, thank you so much for sharing your story and serving as an inspiration for so many!!!

Spring Cleaning Sale!

Reid and I have been having mucho computer problems lately.  He has spent waaaay too many hours trying to fix my desktop, then my father-in-laws laptop (I was borrowing it), then Reid's desktop, then his phone, my phone, on and on...  

If you drive by our house one day and see a heaping pile of still smoldering electronic equipment in our front yard do not be alarmed.  

But finally we are (pretty much) back on the grid! :)  And since I am organizing and archiving my photo files, I am having a Spring Cleaning Sale!  It's a super duper awesome deal, so jump on the bandwagon ASAP!

Karen Taggart Photography Spring Cleaning Sale 2013

Now if only I could get motivated to spring clean my house.  Another project for another day! :)

Top 5 Reasons Why Photography is Priceless

Everyone has a camera now.  Whether it's a cheapo disposable, a smartphone, or even a pro-level digital SLR, everyone from Aunt Edna to the 10 year old down the street has the ability to take pretty darn good quality photos of life's events.

Claire & Ava having lunch by the lake.  Priceless.

With the advent of so many digital images being made by so many people, you may think that photographs have somewhat lost their value.  They're a dime a dozen.  I disagree.  Here are my top 5 reasons why I believe photographs are absolutely essential and priceless:

1.  Worth Fighting Over

One of the main things that divorcing couples fight over are the photo albums and other photographs.  Why the heck would you want photos of your ex anyway you may ask?  Why do they fight over them?  Because these images represent your past, a huge part of your life, they encompass many great memories, and they definitely stir up many emotions.  

2.  Cherished Memories

When a loved one passes away one of the first things many of us do is to gather all the photos of this person throughout their life.  We make a collage, display them on tables, or maybe make a video for all the mourners to view.  It is a very difficult thing to do, but also one that bonds us together even more.  Once someone is gone, we have to rely on our memories to conjure up their likeness unless we have these special images to cherish forever.  A photograph of your grandparents on their wedding day or your first born taking his first steps is irreplaceable.

3.  Ages and Stages

Our children grow up so fast.  Having the ability to capture each stage and life experiences in photos and even video is absolutely amazing.  My daughter is just about 2 and I already swoon while looking back at her baby photos.  Photographs trigger emotions in us and actually help us bond with those we love, or feel closer to those we have lost.

4.  Make the World a Smaller Place

Photographs allow us to experience places we will likely never have an opportunity to visit, people we will never meet, and events we will never attend.  These images make the world a much smaller place and help to both educate and create a feeling of a world community.  I will not likely walk along the Great Wall of China, meet a nomad from an African country, or attend the New Year's festivities in Moscow, but I have seen photographs of all of these.  How cool is that?

5.  We Can Even Document Our Own Lives

An often overlooked value of photography is how we get to collect and view the progression of our own lives.  Our children can see what we looked like in high school (gasp), we can giggle at how our parents dressed us in 3rd grade, and we can look back fondly over the years when we are 80 and rocking slowly in our chair, bragging to our great granddaughter about "the good 'ole days" and how things were "back in the day".  

We sometimes take for granted things that are no longer difficult to come by.  Digital photography has made it even easier for all of us to snap away without giving it a second thought.  But I believe that the value of these images still remains.  Just ask a mother who, sadly, has lost her child how much the images she has of her little son mean to her.  Beyond priceless.

What do you think? Do you cherish your photos as much as I do? Tell me about it in the comments below!

~Karen

To all the parents out there, I will soon be launching a new site called Bright Faith which will be a family friendly journey through the world's religions, faiths & spirituality.  You can "like" the Bright Faith Facebook page here or follow me on Twitter @brightfaithorg.  

I will be providing stories, video interviews, guides, children's books, downloadable field trip ideas, and eventually family learning trips for small groups.  Come join me on this new adventure!