Christiana Childers Photography Blog

Cancer.  I hate cancer.  Just when you think you’re safe, let your guard down, it strikes again.

My cousin Chet (his name is Keith, we call him Chet…of course) went through a hard battle with Leukemia about 15 years ago.  There were some close calls but he made it out.  Not unscathed however as his wife who he met because she also had Leukemia died 6 months after their wedding date.  So with a broken heart, he rebuilt his life.  He married again to a fantastic person and now has two amazing boys.  So we all relaxed a bit…let the snake sneak up on us.   He is now facing another hard to treat cancer with a tumor in his esophagus.  It just makes me swear.  And say “It’s not fair!” over and over again.  Because it just isn’t.

He sent me some PJ bottoms I had made for him probably 20+ years ago to use as a prayer shawl.  I cried when I got them.  I can’t believe that he has kept them all these years.  There are some serious holes in these things!  Chet, by the way, is a fantastic photographer and one of my photography heroes.  I have a few of his prints up in my dining room so I put his PJ bottoms up on my wall by his prints.  It’s my Chet shrine.  So if you come over and wonder why there are pants on my wall.  It’s for Chet.

I love you Chetter and will continue to be praying for you all as you start treatment next week.

OK, so some of you know that my friends tease me that my stories always start with “My cousin…”  It’s actually true.  I’ll admit it.  BUT, in my defense there are lots of stories there!  First, I have about 75 cousins (not really…but wait.  That’s not far off..) and they are really remarkable people! So here we go -

MY COUSIN Adam just got home this weekend from his first Command Tour as a Navy Commander on a SHIP (I got in trouble for calling it a boat.  Learn from my mistakes!).  Here are some shots from the day!

Here’s my patriotic brother…

This guy kind of killed me!  Do you ever see someone like that and they just remind you of something special?  This man did to me.  I took a bunch of shots of him.

And then the reunions began!  So fun to watch!!

Here’s my cousin and his daughter -

Here he is being interviewed by the media.  I love all the hugging going on in this shot.

And the newest member of the Starr Clan -

If those pics don’t make you bite your knuckles from cute, well, there’s something wrong with you!

And one last one that I got first thing in the morning.  I made Ben stop on the freeway.  It was just too beautiful!

I had my second family reunion of the summer last week at Port Townsend, WA.  I love Port Townsend!  It is such a great spot for a big group.  There is something for everyone.  My kids love the beach – finding crabs, collecting shells etc and being with their cousins…I love being with my cousins (theme to my life), doing something artsy/crafty and taking photos, of course.  Ben likes hanging out with the guys, golfing and smoking cigars.  We all get to do what we want!  Here is a small sampling from our few days together at the beach -

I’m going to add a new category called Cousins.  In the “About” section on my website I admit that my friend’s tease me that my stories always start with “My cousin”… here’s why – I have so many talented cousins!

My cousin Kelly is an amazing artist. I’m lucky to have a couple of her pieces in my possession and I remembered thinking once (while looking at her art) after our car got broken into and so many things taken that if someone broke into our house and took everything, the only thing I’d really be sad about is my photos and my art.

Kelly’s got a great blog that takes through the day-in day-out life of an artist and Mom of three boys.  It is always inspiring for me – Poesies and Rye.   In light of my recent photo project with a book cover, I thought I’d show you her latest project which is so cool!  I feel a new collection of manila envelopes coming on!