To read her journal/blog please go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelgalatolo
She is an amazing writer and we are all encouraging her to publish it into a book to help other family's dealing with cancer. Please if you have a strange discoloration on your skin, Go To The Doctor's Office!
These images were taken 8 days before Michael left us. They have both touched my life beyond words. I have know Kim since the fifth grade and Michael for over 25 years. Kim and I were inseparable in high school and raised our small children together. And, boy do we have stories to tell...
Michael was the type of guy that was always there for you. A kind smile and a helping hand. I never think of Michael as "idle". He was also working in the yard, cleaning up after the kids, in the garage tinkering like guys do, fixing projects around the house, etc. And always with a smile on his face.
When Kim told me that the doctors were giving Michael only two more weeks to live I jumped on that plane to California to photograph their last family portrait. I knew how important that would be for me as my final gift I could give the family and also for Kim, Dante, and Marina to have a lasting memory of their husband and father. I also wanted to be able to say goodbye.
I am so ever grateful that I was able to do that for them. No one can ever say what we as photographers do for a living is just take pretty pictures. We have an important opportunity in the world to touch so many lives with our art. Just imagine if every photographer donated their art even just once a year? There are so many wonderful causes out there that need photography. Now I lay me down to sleep and the Heart Gallery are two wonderful organizations.
What I'm trying to express is that it's not about the photographer, but what we can do to impact others. I am truly blessed and fortunate to call myself a professional photographer and I hope that I can give others joy, peace, comfort, love... for years to come.
