dada

my friends, lucy + john, live in santa fe.  they've 2 children - eyerus (who is adopted, 3 and ethiopian), and a-1, also known as aidan.  i think aidan is 5.  i've known lucy for 25 years this year.  we met one summer on the campus of princeton university.  we were taking part in a program called operation crossroads africa.  i was leading a medical team to liberia and she was going with another team to the neighboring country of sierra leone.  after 5 weeks in the bush, our teams met up in abidjan, cote d'ivoire.  our groups spent about a week in cheap hotels on the beach near grand bassam.  i had the best vietnamese food there.  i'll never forget it.

anyway, lucy is my best bud.  it's been like that since we first met.  she was the best woman at my wedding in 2003.  when i was hospitalized acutely in 2001, she left her dad's side in vermont where he'd just had a stroke to come be with me in tucson.  we're that tight.

my son, jamaal, and i spent christmas here with these guys.  i photographed jamaal  playing on their kids' trampoline.  lucy and john took a-1 and eyerus back to ethiopia shortly after christmas for a month so eyerus could spend time with her birth mom.  they're there now.  i'm in their house visiting a mutual friend.  they don't know i've visited and have no idea of what i've done to their wall.  i wish i could be where when they see it for the first time.

dada.

(the 1st photo of me entering the house after installing "jamaal flying" is by wendy johnson.)