I may have mentioned before that my lighting instructor is an award-winning photographer. His bread and butter is commercial photography, but his photography goes far beyond. On the first day of class he showed us some of his work, and later we learned more of the back story to many of his shots through this program, The Work of Art, produced by KNPB. I highly recommend watching it and it will give you a great idea of who Jeff Ross is as an artist and a human being.

I had a routine visit with my cardiologist today. Actually, it wasn’t that routine as my regular EP, Dr. Dhir, has left the practice and I was seeing a “new” doctor today: Dr. Letitia Anderson.  The last time I’d seen Dr. Anderson was in November 2009 when I was in the emergency room at Renown prior to being admitted for four days of observation. I liked her then, and today’s visit confirmed that I made the right choice in requesting her after Dr. Dhir’s departure.

Yes…there is a connection here. Patience!

Dr. Anderson wanted me to get my pacemaker read and as I was heading into the waiting area I saw an elderly black man checking in with the receptionist. I immediately recognized him as the gentleman in this photo.  A super-sized version of this photo hangs in Jeff’s studio in Reno and it moves me very much.

And there he was, looking just as he did in the photograph. Same hat, same expression, same demeanor.

At first I wasn’t going to say anything to Mr. Marks, but I felt drawn to him. I wanted him to know I knew who he was, and so I walked up to him and said, “I know you from your photograph.”  We chatted briefly; I told him how much I loved Jeff’s photograph of him. He remembered Jeff and the photo.  I touched the sleeve of his trench coat with my left hand, and he reached for my right hand to hold it.  I told him that I would tell Jeff tonight that I’d seen him. We said good-bye.

And then he smiled at me and kissed my hand.

Cross-posted at Blue Lyon