This Guy’s Wife Got Cancer, So He Did Something Unforgettable. The Last 3 Photos Destroyed Me.

[MattSh]

The first time photographer Angelo Merendino met Jennifer, he knew she was the one. They fell in love and got married in New York’s Central Park, surrounded by family, friends, and loved ones.

Five months later Jen was diagnosed with breast cancer. From Angelo’s blog: “I remember the exact moment…Jen’s voice and the numb feeling that enveloped me. That feeling has never left. I’ll also never forget how we looked into each other’s eyes and held each other’s hands. ‘We are together, we’ll be ok.’”

Throughout her battle, Angelo decided to photograph it. He wanted to humanize the face of cancer on the face of his wife. The photos speak for themselves.

-- More photos at link: --

http://www.viralnova.com/wifes-cancer/

[NYC_SKP]

1. It's a great series, the last three are not particularly awful. nt.

[hrmjustin]

2. Very moving.

Brings back memories of when I took care of a friend with Brain cancer.

[KC]

3. Wow

Those are wonderful photos but gosh, all of them made me cry. And I agree, the last few really did me in.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. So much love...so much.

[ancianita]

5. Beautiful. Moving. Thank you.

[abhishekbt]

6. Touched

I mean to say that I am so touched by the fact that the person has done so much to keep his wife happy through out her life and even after her death he is working to keep her memories alive in the world.

[brer cat]

12. +1 nt

[calimary]

16. Welcome to DU, abhishekbt!

Glad you're here. We're all touched. This photos kind of allow the viewer to sit and join in and help keep the vigil, don't they?

Sobering. Really brings it home. One dreads that empty-bed photo. Reminds me of the call I got telling me my mom had finally succumbed (to all kinds of nasty shit that sickened her. Ironically, cancer was about the only thing she didn't have). Walking down the hall on her floor of the hospital, you'd pass by door after door after door, all of them open at least partially, where you can always kinda peek inside as you pass and see there's somebody in there, and maybe a nurse or a visitor or somebody, even silhouettes of somebody that are visible when the curtains are drawn in front of them. That particular night, I noticed that, unlike all the others, and after countless hospitalizations she'd had in the last two or three years of her life, the door to her room was now closed. For the first time ever. Just that one little detail can be rather devastating. Even when you're kinda expecting it.

[NealK]

7. That's incredibly moving.

[Lunabelle]

8. I have no words

...

[hourglass1]

9. only tears

[calimary]

17. Welcome to DU, hourglass1!

Good to have you with us. This is just riveting, isn't it? Such a personal journey, and it's an honor to be invited to witness it. Another reason why I love DU. It offers so much more beyond just an opportunity to share and vent about politics. There's other stuff here, too, to round everything out. And feed the soul.

[Callalily]

10. Very emotional photos!

I have three friends battling breast cancer right now! They show such strength, such courage, such determination.

[a la izquierda]

11. I'm sitting in the bathroom...

Getting ready for my day. And I'm sobbing.

[tavalon]

13. Wow, that was so real

So, damn real.

[Myrina]

14. My sister did similar when our mom was dying of brain cancer in the 80's ...

I still cannot look at the photos, they break my heart.

[Mira]

15. It took several tries to have the courage to look

I'm so choked up by all of it that I can't speak. That includes the photography.

[greiner3]

18. Now that's a 'CIGAR';

If I ever saw one portrayed at picture #14, but I'll pass on getting what she has just to light one up that size.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

29. Sorry, but have you ever smoked a 'cigar' placed under your tongue?

a plastic one with a button on it at that.


BTW: "Five months later Jen was diagnosed with breast cancer." Don't know if she even smoked & has nothing to do with this love story.

[CoffeeCat]

19. Am I the only one who is totally afraid of cancer?

These pictures were very moving, but to me they were also terrifying. Just look what happened to her. It's so unfair. It's a living nightmare, in my opinion.

I don't know if I am strange or in the minority, but I fear cancer. If I get a cold and it hangs on too long, I wonder if something is wrong with my immune system and I'm sick. I worry about pesticides and what junk food does to my body.

It seems like there are so many people who are young, and otherwise healthy and living healthy lives--who get cancer. It seems to random.

It also seems as if there are many things that we are doing that cause this. Our diet, pesticides, plastics, stress, horrible processed foods that cause weight gain (which increases cancer risk).

I am i awe of people who go through this and handle it well. I imagine that I would fall apart at the seams. I hear how courageous people are as they deal with cancer. It's amazing. I wouldn't know how to handle it, in particular because of my two teenage daughters.

I was adopted, so I don't know my biological history--so that leaves me wondering about what genetic predispositions lie in my DNA.

This woman in the pictures is beautiful and lovely--and she obviously was very loved. This sucks and it is unfair and it makes me so angry.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. I think that we all fear cancer.

It is so arbitrary. It comes out of nowhere. It doesn't matter how careful you are in living healthy.

I have the feeling that everyone falls apart when they first hear the diagnosis....or at some point in the process. I think of the things that I have lived through, although none are so devastating as cancer, and I have no idea how I got through it. We just do. What are your choices when faced with difficulties that you cannot control? You face it, you hide from it, you fight it, or you give up. I fear cancer, but I also know that it is quite possible that it could be in the future since too many people get it if they live long enough. I do not worry about it, now. In fact, I try not to worry about things that may not happen when there are things that I have to face day to day. There is enough to worry about that is happening and has to be dealt with.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

22. no. you're not the only one.

Don't know what else to say.... too many thoughts to pick just one.

[Curmudgeoness]

20. I was thinking that some people here were too sentimental

getting all choked up and sobbing. That doesn't happen often to me.

You were not too sentimental. The last pictures were emotional.

[awoke_in_2003]

23. I imagined if this had happened to my wife...

Luckily, no one is around me right now

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

24. This January 10th will be.....

.....six years since my wife and I lost our 18 year old daughter to brain cancer. The scenes in the photos look so familiar. We miss her each day.....................

[cry baby]

25. So very sad. Sorry for your loss.

These photos are jarring, moving, sobering.

[Skittles]

26. ...

[postatomic]

27. I have mixed feelings about this

....but I don't want to cause a clusterfuck over this. So I'll stay quiet.

I will link his actual site here for those that are interested:

http://mywifesfightwithbreastcancer.com/

[marble falls]

28. Mixed feelings are appropriate and a dissenting view is acceptable. I think you may ...

have some concerns about exploitation. I understand. I'm a little cynical about things, too. But the photos seem to me to be valuable. And the foundation and book seem reasonable and the journey was his as well as hers.

[Evoman]

30. Ive seen this before and I always cry. I'm living it right now and it reminds me of my ultimate fate

We all end up in the same place, but I feel I'm too young to be going through this. They tell me I have a year. I'm gonna try to fight for at least two.

Cancer sucks so bad.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

32. I noted in an earlier post the circumstance our family found itself in...

...with our daughter. She was a remarkable child, kept up her studies, in the 12th grade at the time, till three weeks before she left. I eulogized her with the words "How could one so young demonstrate purpose, peace, and wisdom as she did?" I read your profile, it brought back emotions for me. Peace to you my friend. Know that in this thing we call the human experience, it is the moment-to-moment sharing that is all that is real. I'll be that silent presence in the room with you, as I am sure many others will be. Good thoughts and again, peace, coming your way.

[mikeysnot]

31. And pricks like dick cheney

are still walking and spewing his venom....

[Throckmorton]

33. Been there, done that, it sucked.

I still love you April, and I have chosen to remember you right.
Dan