Warning: This article contains powerful and emotional content that may be difficult to view
I knew the first minute I saw Jennifer that she was the one. Jen was beautiful and the kind of person that everyone wants in their life: she listened, and when you talked with her you felt like you were the only person who mattered.
A few months later I finally worked up the courage to ask Jen out, telling her, “I have a crush on you.” At the time Jen was living in New York and I was in Cleveland. We talked on the phone for hours and wanted to know everything about each other; after 6 months of long distance dating I moved to New York. Read more…
Jill Conley was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31. Only six months into her marriage, she and her husband had to go through the horrors of chemo, radiation, a double mastectomy and a problematic reconstruction before she finally entered remission. Now 35, she has been diagnosed with incurable stage 4 bone cancer.
Photographer Sue Bryce was moved after hearing of Conley’s story, and offered Jill and her friends a trip to Paris. Bryce’s idea was to use her photographic talents to uplift Conley and cancer patients around the world. The documentary above, titled “The Light That Shines,” shows the beautiful work that resulted from that trip and the time the two women spent together (Warning: the video contains some strong images). Read more…
Back in March, we wrote about photographer Bob Carey‘s Tutu Project, which consists of self-portraits Carey created while wearing only a pink tutu. The project started out as a fun image made for a non-profit ballet organization, but soon transformed into something much more after Carey’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The folks over at PocketWizard recently interviewed Carey, creating the touching short film above that offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the project came about (warning: you might want to have some Kleenex nearby). Read more…
We shared the terrible news last week that Photojojo founder Amit Gupta was diagnosed with leukemia. Well, he’s now looking for a bone marrow donor and needs your help:
If you’re South Asian, get a free test by mail. You rub your cheeks with a cotton swab and mail it back. It’s easy.
If you know any South Asians (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, or Sri Lanka), please point ‘em to the links above. Thank you.
Tony Bacigalupo writes that the odds of someone of South Asian descent finding a match are only 1 in 20,000. Lets help Amit beat his cancer — please help spread the word!
Update: Marketing guru Seth Godin is offering $10,000 and a profile on his blog to anyone who matches and donates.
P.S.Apparently donating bone marrow these days involves a blood-transfusion-style machine that’s pain-free.
