Sage YMCA, Paralympic Gold Medalist and U.S. Navy Lt. Brad Snyder

I had the privilege of photographing the first Sage YMCA Community Breakfast Program (visit Sage YMCA to learn more or to donate) that included international speaker, author, USA Paralympic gold medalist swimmer and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Brad Snyder.

It was an early morning when members of the community and YMCA members came together for a breakfast designed to encourage and inspire as well as to raise money for programming.

The breakfast began with local performances from a District 47 bell choir, The Summers Academy of Dance and the Crystal Lake Central High School Madrigals.

D47 Bell Choir

Crystal Lake Central High School Madrigals

Summers Academy of Dance Berkshire Ballet Theatre performs a portion of The Nutcracker

After the entertainment, Lieutenant Snyder ascended the podium. All eyes were on him as he delivered an inspirational, entertaining and poignant speech.

For a person whose degree was earned in Naval Architecture and who was stationed overseas diffusing bombs, Snyder has slipped nearly effortlessly into the motivational speaking platform.

As Snyder recalled the series of events leading up the loss of his vision, I people-watched from behind the lens. The 160 guests in attendance sat mesmerized, hanging on his every word.

His talk invited the audience to not only listen to his story, but to walk alongside him throughout his journey as he painted a vivid picture of what happened in the weeks after his injury --  the garish realization that his life forever would be altered, the life-changing normalcy found in swimming and the glorious joy of winning a gold medal for only himself, but for his country -- one year to the day that the detonation of an IED in Afghanistan left him completely blind.

In a speech overpowered by optimism, tinged with the agony of injury and covered in hope, there were sighs, gasps, tears and genuine smiles. But as Snyder closed, he reminded everyone that resilience isn’t always about bouncing back from a setback to the person you used to be. Resilience is dynamic. As humans, resilience means that we have stretched, we have grown, we have become a better version of ourselves – that we should keep striving for something more.

Snyder said his goal is to be the best blind person he can be. What are you striving for?

U.S. Navy Lieutenant and Paralympic gold-medal swimmer Brad Snyder.

Snyder's guide dog Gizzy remains by his side throughout his presentation.

Gizzy and Snyder

The YMCA staff posing with Snyder and Gizzy after an impressively successful first community breakfast.

Snyder meets with Oscar Mike founder Noah Currier. I've had the honor of photographing Currier in the past. Oscar Mike strives to keep military veterans alive and on the move. Learn about the Oscar Mike Foundation here: https://www.oscarmike.org/foundation/https://www.oscarmike.org/foundation/

Advent: Week One

This past Sunday began the first week of the liturgical season of Advent. I feel so richly blessed to have this time to prepare for the birth of Christ. I have had seasons where Advent is so busy and hectic that we haven’t felt spiritually ready for Christmas. I’ve had other years where we had an enormous amount of time to pour into preparation. In recent years, I have found more and more ways to manageably deepen our family’s understanding of preparing our hearts for Jesus' birth.

I would love to share a few of our Advent traditions with you.

My husband and I have had this Advent wreath since we were married. It is unique – something that I was looking for at that time in my life – and it is well-loved. It is a fixture on our kitchen table.

Every night, we light the appropriate candle(s) and read from one of Arnold Ytreeide’s books. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them for adults as well as children. There are four books whose characters intersect as they follow different paths leading up to the birth of Jesus. There is a reading for each day of Advent – if you miss the first couple of days of Advent, just buy (or borrow) the book, double up and read along with us. We are reading Bartholomew’s Passage this Advent.

We have several friends who are Jewish and these stories help us to talk about Jewish customs and traditions because three of the four main characters are Jewish.

We have used the Truth in the Tinsel program in the past, but this year we are going back to a traditional Jesse Tree. My girls drew and painted our tree, and this year we are using pre-printed ornaments to color as I read from the Bible.

My husband and I have had this nativity since our first Christmas – purchased at Ace Hardware, it is neither flashy, nor expensive, but it is dear to us. And when our youngest was born, we purchased this Fisher-Price nativity set. Jesus’s space remains empty and that is how I began teaching our children about preparing for Jesus’ birth – about waiting patiently and anticipating that joyous day.

My husband and I signed up to receive a free email program –The Best Advent Ever – through Dynamic Catholic. Matthew Kelly and Dr. Allen Hunt are putting out videos based on Dynamic Catholic’s new book, Beautiful Hope.  I received that book in the mail last week, and I devoured it in one night. I am excited to see how Kelly and Hunt present this message through their videos. You can sign up for them here, too.

We try to focus on ways that we can help others – baking cookies, dropping off something we know another family needs, making a phone call, reaching out to friends, choosing tags off the Giving Tree at church. But in little ways, my children like to make crafts for others, color or draw pictures and do things like shoveling a driveway for someone who needs it – things that might not cost anything at all, but that might make someone’s day a little lighter.

With Matthew Kelly’s focus this Advent being BeautifulHope, I hope to work as a family to do one thing that encourages hope each day – whether within our family or for others ~ and I encourage everyone to do the same. After all, Advent is a time of preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ – the Light of Christ.  Without Him, hopelessness quickly pervades our circumstances. So, be the light that brings hope as you go about your day – whether it is taking the time to look at your child and answer his question for the millionth time, making time to actually have a conversation with your spouse or smiling at the cashier during a hectic shopping trip.

Wishing you a very blessed Advent.

Veterans Day Musings

Every Veterans Day, I say, “thank you.” Every Veterans Day, it seems not enough. It often seems trite and small when I think about the great sacrifices that these great men and women have made simply so that I might live my life.

It is beyond anything that I can imagine – to run into danger and place oneself in the midst of situations I would desperately run out of.

The men and women who serve our country have sacrificed more than we can ever know. Their sacrifice does not stop when they complete their service. No, those sacrifices continue to come as military veterans wrestle with the images they have seen, the experiences they have had, the people they have lost, the guilt they carry.

When I think of those precious men and women – veterans that I am so proud to call friends – I am continually in awe of their courage. We owe our freedom to these men and women. I will never understand, but I will never stop supporting them.

In a time when we our losing our beautiful veterans at the shocking rate of 22 veterans taking their own lives each day, we must reach out. We must extend our hands. We must say thank you, but we must also listen. We must do better for these men and women. We must fight for them, here, on our soil – as hard as they have fought for us. Reach out to a veteran … and tell them they matter.

Thank you, U.S. Veterans.

Woodstock Harley-Davidson honors veterans at their Veterans Memorial. This garrison flag flies 50 feet above the memorial.

WHD presented a Remembrance Table at their Veterans Stand To event.

Display of the 509 Parachute Infantry Battalion memorabilia. 

POWs and MIAs were remembered and honored at WHD along with all veterans.

Military uniforms reflected in a military-style bike mirror at Woodstock Harley-Davidson.

More 509 PIB memorabilia and newspaper clippings.

All members of the military are represented, but my father and uncle were Marines and I have several very dear Marine friends, so this is important to me.

Timmerman's Patriotic Drill Team <3 

Woodstock Harley-Davidson Veterans Memorial Documentary Promo, Ahoj Productions

Flags, mounted on the back of a motorcycle, in front of the Woodstock Harley-Davidson Veterans Memorial.

I recently attended a reunion of sorts – a very small gathering of some high school friends. We were all catching up on what we had been doing over the last *ahem* several years.

I was in awe of some of the things my classmates had been doing – and how their lives had changed (and somehow remained the same) since high school.

When I shared what I’d been working on, it would seem that perhaps my classmates wouldn’t have  put my name under the "most likely to write about and photograph veterans and motorcycles" category in our yearbook.

It’s true. This career path I’ve chosen isn’t where I thought I would have been 20 years ago, but it feels like home. It feels like I am just where I am supposed to be.

Veterans hold a dear spot in my heart. Perhaps I didn’t know that 20 years ago, but they do. I’m so thankful for all they do and all that they have done. I’ve been blessed to get to know quite a few of them.

Many of these veterans ride motorcycles. It seems that there is an unspoken bond between the veteran and the freedom of the wide-open road. It does not go unnoticed that there is grave danger in both – and a veteran friend whom I respected a great deal recently was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident – but I respect the desire of veterans to find a place where they belong after years of military service. That place seems to often be found with Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

Harley-Davidson is a strong supporter of the military. Whether modifying and providing motorcycles for military use or storing motorcycles of the deployed, Harley-Davidson walks the walk with those who serve.

Veterans often seek out a sense of belonging – a desire to bond with people who truly understand them. Motorcycle clubs often provide that camaraderie veterans crave. In a military motorcycle club, veterans know their MC brothers and sisters have their six. They swap stories of boot camp and relate memories that only those who've had similar experiences can share. The bond amongst veterans and particularly amongst veterans who ride is intense.

I am not a rider myself, but so many of these veteran riders have welcomed me into their fold and granted me interviews and shared their stories. Many of them feel like family to me.

I am proud to be working alongside Steve Firak of Ahoj Productions on a documentary about the first veteran memorial to stand on Harley-Davidson dealership grounds. Vietnam veteran and U.S. Marine Cpl. Timothy J. Crabb is not only the designer of the monument, but also the impetus for the project. He, along with Woodstock Harley-Davidson part-owner Doug Jackson, set the idea in motion and today an immense garrison flag flies high over a sea of bricks with the names of those who have served surrounding a monument that acknowledges the great sacrifices of all of our military.

Timothy’s passion is to honor veterans. Some of Steve’s many passions (and God-given talents) is film, voiceover and composing – all of which he did in this promo video. I am honored that he asked me to help work the script and feel even more blessed to be able to be a part of commemorating the stories of those whose names are engraved on the bricks at Woodstock Harley-Davidson. The slogan Timothy chose is: It’s not just a brick. It’s a story.

Every brick tells a story – but so do the people behind the bricks: the friends and family members who honor servicemen and women, the people who purchase bricks for strangers – each of these people have a story, too. As a writer, I embrace the stories told to me and soak in the importance of these memories. 

I love to capture other people's stories. And Steve is the person you want in your corner filming these stories.

To view the promo video, please click here.

A veteran and biker let me photograph his flags in front of the monument.

That's My Brick marks each brick with a fused glass layer, permanently bonded to the brick. 

Tools left during an installation break.

Steve where you can always find him ... behind the camera.

An image taken during the unveiling of the monument and the dedication of the memorial.

Raising the garrison flag over the memorial during the dedication.