When I think back to then, my summer memories are tucked inside an L-shaped swimming pool like a love letter in an envelope. The place I spent day in and day out...from the time it opened at one in the afternoon 'til it closed at 8 (or 6 if it were Sunday). The place where you didn't need a towel....you just laid on the concrete and let the sun dry you off. The place where you didn't get out of the water -- even if you were all prune-y -- until the 3 o'clock adult swim.....when you'd stand in a line 35 people-deep for a Strawberry Scooter Crunch. Those were the days. I made friendships with people just like me, from the next town over. Lasting friendships. Genuine friendships. So much so that were were one huge family. Year by year, those friendships picked up, right where they left off on Labor Day the year before.
Then, as time passed and you grew up, you spent your summers working there. Instead of playing handball in the 3-foot, you were screening out bugs or scrubbing the walls. Benching kids for running on the pavement or catching the big kids going down the slide backwards. The little kids idolized you -- like you once did to those before you -- as a lifeguard. You were their heroes. You had the coolest job on the face of the planet....with a whistle to twirl around your fingers up in that chair. Those friendships you had grown when you were little were now your co-workers. And yet, still part of your family. They were your brothers that picked on you, and sisters you leaned on. And a mom who ran the show.....
In a childhood of cold, cloudy days, those days with that family were your brightest days. They made you forget about your sick mom, your dysfunctional family troubles, divorcing parents, and having to grow-up overnight. They made you feel normal. That family made you feel like you were part of something special.
And at the center of that family was The Anderson's. 4 special people that have touched more lives than they could ever realize. You looked at them and that's what you wanted to be when you grew up. That's the love you wanted to have, that's the family bond you wanted to share. You wanted to emulate everything about them. Randy was a basketball coach to his son's team. Lisa was a cheerleading advisor to her daughter's squad. The lived for their kids. And not just the ones they gave birth to....
Even to this day, this family touches my heart. And I don't think I've ever told them so.
In October 2008, Randy and Lisa lost their daughter to skin cancer. Unjustly. Unfairly. Unimaginably.
But, they persevered. 5 months later they hosted the first Heather Anderson-Land Melanoma Awareness Day. A day all her own to live on and fight a beast that she wanted to defeat.
I was lucky enough to photograph the event. I took so many pictures -- several times thru tear filled eyes. At times it was so overwhelming to see the support for this family and the love for Heather.
xo,
-e-
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