My "Bucket List" and New Friends

In the weeks following my diagnosis earlier this year with a disease that with great likelihood give me a shorter than average life expectancy, I sat down to make my "bucket list". What was it that I most wanted to do while I was still able to do so?

First on my list - a trip to New York City with my husband and daughter. I've been lucky to travel to many major cities around the world, but never to the one that has intrigued me the most. Not just any trip to NYC, but a photographer's jaunt to neighbourhoods that have filled my imagination with colours, sounds, tastes ever since I can remember.

So, we set about making our plans. My family urged me to dream big. Stay in a nice hotel in Manhattan. Ask friends about great restaurants. Make a list of every spot I wanted to hit in the space of the week we would spend there.

We planned to leave right after my daughter's 16th birthday near the end of this month (which happens to be the same weekend as mine, and we wanted to be home for both), and be back in time for school to start. What a great way it would be to end the summer!

Unfortunately, things haven't worked out as we'd hoped. If you've been reading the posts, I've been dealing with a cardiac issue - but it's the side effects of numerous drugs that have wiped me out and left me unable to travel. Some days I feel lucky to make it to the mailbox around the corner, not quite what I had in mind for my grand adventures this summer!

When I had started planning, I tripped upon a blog by a fellow photographer from Greensboro, North Carolina by the name of Aris Wells http://www.ariswells.com/. Aris and her family had recently visited New York City, and she had posted photographs from their trip. I excitedly forwarded the link to my husband, telling him that the photos so beautifully summed up what I wanted to get out of our own trip. Her images captured what I've come to envision as the beauty and life of this city.

Last week, as a family we made the final decision (or step of acceptance?) that our trip would have to wait. I decided to contact Aris to ask if it would be possible to share her photos in this post, and I'm delighted to say that not only did she quickly and graciously agree - she sent me emails that put tears in my eyes. I'm blessed to have so many friends who are supporting me on this journey, and I'm pleased to count Aris as a new friend. And I'll look forward to sharing my photos of NYC with her when I do get there!

Please enjoy these photos courtesy of Aris, and do pass along her name to any friends/family who might live down Greensboro way! Her work is gorgeous. And her blog shows the images bigger than you will see here (plus you can read her entertaining commentary on her own visit too) at http://ariswells.com/blog/?p=266.

Thank you Aris. Your photos of NYC put a huge smile on my face whenever I look at them (which is quite often!)