Portrait Projects
Between June 2021 and June 2022, while the world was still reeling from the Pandemic that engulfed us all, my husband and I traveled the Great American Loop in our small motorboat. This 6000 mile journey travels along the rivers, canals, lakes and intracoastal waterways of the eastern United States. Along the way I met many people whose lives were linked to the water and I was curious how they fared during the COVID lockdowns. I asked them: “what did you learn about yourself during the Pandemic?”
Commodore Rock, Intercity Yacht Club, Cleveland, OH
I had COVID, I beat it. I learned that I had taken mortality for granted and a lot of people did. To hear my doctor tell my wife she had to leave and for me to think that that was the last time I was going to see her. I had all the underlying conditions that warrants me not to be here, you know, diabetes, over-weight, high blood pressure and I made 3 phone calls. I called three numbers that I knew would get the word out and I hung up the phone and thought, well, that’s it. And I had to face my mortality but you can say that some people had it worse than others, but to me there’s no such thing as “worse than others” You either got it or you don’t. And if you had it, then that’s the worse thing that ever happened to you. The experience I had, I wouldn’t wish on anybody. I guess the worse experience you can have is dying, but that doesn’t make my experience less worse. If you have it, it’s the worse for you. The three people who I called were the secretary of the motorcycle club, I called the boss of my job and I called my sister. And that was it. I wasn’t about to spend a lot of time on the phone. I have a lot of friends. They say that the anticipation of death is worse than death itself. That’s the truth. Knowing you are about to die. I don’t mean to put down third world countries but I feel like they live with death closer by. And this country, it hits harder, it hits differently. I expect to see you tomorrow and I don’t expect to walk out of the house and drop dead. So coming to grips with your mortality is something I learned in 2020. And when people out here—I like to say that there’s 2 things that you realize: birth and death. I watched a natural childbirth. I cut the umbilical cord. I think every man should witness natural childbirth. It will humble the most rough man. I watched a man take his last breath. It was not an easy thing to realize he would never take another breath. To see birth and death, that’s the real thing. I just run this yacht club but the only thing I’m running out here is my mouth. I’m not running shit. Whatever you believe in, a higher power or whatever, nature runs this. You run nothing, you’re just a speck. So live it, love it cos you’re gonna leave it.