Destination Photography Magazine Issue 6

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A special edition of DP magazine dedicated to my grandfather and uncle.

Transcript of Destination Photography Magazine Issue 6

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Dedicated to the memory of my grandfather Jose Ramirez and my great uncle Miguel Ramirez

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! On the morning of January 14th, 2013 while at work, I received a phone call from my mother telling me that my Grandfather Jose Ramirez had lost his battle with a stronger strain of the Corona virus (the common cold) that had infected his lungs and had passed away.

! Now most people would burst into tears, or even fall to the ground even. I am not like most people, and I tend to deal with these situations very differently. I become very quiet & closed off, & though I was with two friends at the time, I was still... normal. The reasons being I knew this was on the horizon...

! My grandfather had been sick now for some time now, & I had been back & forth from the hospital seeing him every day for most of the month. So to hear of this news, was just something I knew was coming.... sooner or later. I was excused from work to be with the rest of my family... and that ‘s really when it hit me... That my Grandfather had passed... seeing my family mourn was hard, but seeing my father cry and still try to keep everyone going and handle all the documentation and paper work that comes after was probably the hardest part.

! My father and Grandfather had always been two of the most hard headed, stubborn, strong, independent men I had ever known and ‘till this day still are. So to see my grandfather in the state he was in before his passing, and now my father so broken was not the easiest thing to deal with.

! What was even harder to deal with was that my grandfather’s brother, my great uncle Miguel Ramirez had, to everyone’s shock and despair; passed away only a few days before from a heart attack in the waiting room of the very hospital his brother was laying in the ICU of. So now my family was all coming together to figure out what could we do, we had lost two members of our family and to all my cousins as well as myself, these two men were uncles, grandfathers, fathers, brothers, husbands, father in laws, & friends....

! Within just one day I saw my father and his brother, my uncle, run through the city, set up a beautiful funeral for both my grandfather and my great uncle and pull the rest of the family along with them. I’m incredibly proud of both of them as they dealt with the loss of their father and managed to put together such a beautiful and short noticed ceremony.

! The Ramirez family was brought together after many years, many arguments and many differences that might have come between us. Though the circumstances that did bring us together were not that of happiness per se, they brought us together under the spirits of two great men. We reconciled and shared tears, laughs, and stories together.

These were the images of that fateful day.

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The Ceremony

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Brothers

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Miguel Ramirez

Jose Ramirez

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Father & Sons

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Men of family. In their prime.

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Nephew & Uncle

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Prayers

Words

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She’ll miss him so dearly...58 years of marriage.

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Husband and wife.

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I will miss them both... so much.

! I can go on for pages and pages on stories of these two men. Funny ones, sad ones, and every other possible emotion out there. The reality is that my grandfather Jose Ramirez was one of my favorite people. Though he was stubborn with many things and old fashioned in every possible way, it never took away from how amazing he was as a grandfather and loyal as a husband, and as a father. I know this loss will be especially hard on my own father, and I plan to be there for him when he needs me to be.

! My uncle Miguel, though we did not have as much time together as we should have had, I will never forget how much you made me laugh in the few times we were together. I will never forget your jokes, and how fun it was to see you and grandpa go at it. I know now when I hear the sounds of thunder in the sky, that you and grandpa are being the brothers you are and going at one another with jokes. Thank you for keeping the spirits of us all so high when we needed it the most. I look forward to being closer with the family I’ve come to meet in these short few days.

Abuelo... If I were to write 3 whole pages on how you affected and influenced my life it would not be enough. For many of my childhood years, you were a second father figure to me. You taught me much about being a man, both directly and indirectly, and though your methods were “old fashioned” they were still wise in their own ways. I am thankful for the time and knowledge you contributed to my life. Like my father, your son; you taught me that sometimes being the best you can be means being there for the ones who love you the most, your family.

We love you both so much, and will miss you dearly.

-M.

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‘Till we meet again.

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