After only two treatments of chemotherapy, my husband, David, lost his battle with cancer. Since his death, I feel as if I’ve been hearing Dave’s voice telling me to go on with writing stories, poetry and especially continue with my photography. He loved photography and anyone who knew him, knew this.

    On May 20, 2000 we were married and a year later I enrolled in the Commercial Photography Program at Pinellas Technical Education Center. My husband was absolutely thrilled. Every free moment we had, was spent taking pictures. It’s hard to believe that only last year, we were joyfully photographing places such as the town of Celebration, Leu Gardens and Animal Kingdom in Orlando, the Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Bok Towers in Lake Wales and the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. We made several trips to Heritage Village, The Botanical Gardens and the Nature Preserve in Largo. After discovering John Chestnut Park in Palm Harbor, Dave & I were in awe of the nature we found there and returned many times. So much beauty to be seen in our own backyard!

    In May we spent our third year anniversary in Hawaii, where we each had photographed about 1,000 images of breathtaking scenery. I tried several times to capture a Hawaiian cardinal on film to no avail, but Dave was able to get a beautiful shot of the bird.

    When we returned from Hawaii Dave was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The doctors seemed optimistic. After his first treatment of chemotherapy, he was really down, so I made a card for him using the Hawaiian cardinal photo and simply wrote, “Because of you, I see so much more”. This was how I truly felt. Had it not been for Dave, I would have never become involved in photography. How different everything looked through the lens of a camera.

    He called me Alice in wonderland as we walked through Chestnut Park. It did seem like a wonder land. So much of what I was seeing, I had never seen before. Our photography inspired me to write poetry. Dave was my biggest fan and always so supportive.

    When he passed away on August 26, 2003, my writing friends encouraged me to write and my photography friends encouraged me to take pictures. Some days when I find it difficult to become motivated, I think of Dave. It is his voice that inspires me to continue what we both enjoyed doing together so much.

Copyright © 2004 Judi Honiker