Tweeted over the weekend to having received a very poignant email from the wife of a man named Ron Richmond.
He and his wife, Ha, were visiting Seattle on vacation from Massachusetts back in July of 2008. They were taking the ferry over to Bainbridge with their two kids when I encountered Ron feeding the seagulls pieces of bread from his hand. This seemed kind of Superman-ish to me b/c I’d worry about them nipping at my fingertips, but Ron was unphased by it.
Ha informed me that Ron passed away from cancer last year, and the news absolutely broke me up. Through their blog, I learned so much about the man so many cared about, and the resiliency he and his family showed until his eventual passing.
My best friend died at 19 from leukemia which was was devastating. The first instance really that I — and my friends — realized we were not invincible. A lot of folks, me included, sweat the small things that really don’t matter all that much, and Ha’s message really grounded me back down to the reality of what’s important.
With that, I ask two things of anyone that happens to be reading this:
1) hug your wife/husband/domestic partner/boyfriend/girlfriend. Squeeze your son/daughter/mom/dad/friend today. Tell them how much they mean to you.
2) give blood any time you have the opportunity to as this saves lives.
Ha asked if I had any pictures of him from that day, and I did which brought great satisfaction to me knowing that she had more images of the man she so deeply loved. Better still, I had one piece of footage from that day.
If you get a sec, head to the clip on my server here or here (won’t work on mobile) OR see Ron in all his glory from that day below on Vimeo. . .
My Greatest Work to Date
I’ve been off the blog map lately for a big reason, and her name is Tala Mae Montgomery Clinard.
The image above was taken of her at four days old. At a weight of 8 lbs, 2.5 oz and 20.5 inches in length, she came into this world kicking and screaming at 7:07pm on September 23rd. I really can’t explain the joy her presence has brought to my wife and I. We’re a unit now — a family — and it’s extremely profound.
The moment she was born, everything turned bright white and hot for me, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I body wept. . .
In truth, having a child is amazing, exhausing, beautiful, tense, inspiring, tiresome, lovely, frustrating, and cute all rolled into one.
For many months, she was just was Mochiko to us — a nickname given to her by my wife’s co-worker Ruby DeLuna, a reporter at KUOW 94.9 Public Radio Seattle (thanks to Serene, Jemma and staff for the cute onesie above!). Now that she’s really here?! Whoa. . . look out!
The image above is her signature ‘one eye open with contemplative fist under chin’ pose. As I attempt to slowly work my sleepy-time magic on her, out of nowhere, she’s pulls this out and is like ‘ha, got you sucker. . . i’m still awake!’ She then dozes back off a second later. . .
We’ve got really amazing support that consists of family and friends, so the transition to parenthood has been rather smooth. Just in the last three weeks, she’s met countless friends, her Great Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa and her Auntie Mags — all on her mom’s side. In a few short days, she meets her other set of Grandparents when my own folks come into Seattle from Bama.
Tala and I thank you for checking out this post. She and I recommend that you check back soon as I’ve got a host of entries in the queue regarding recent projects for Canada’s Globe and Mail, Fortune Magazine, Mental_Floss Magazine and a pretty cool ad campaign for Seattle’s Experience Music Project that’s everywhere around Seattle right now.
More soon,
Pops Clinard