MARRIAGE
In a span of six months in 2012, my grandfather, 93, a retired NYPD Deputy Inspector Executive (Queens Detectives) and one of those responsible for the arrest of serial killer Son of Sam, suffered five heart attacks. During the subsequent year, I travelled back and forth, from Virginia to Maine, providing respite to my caregiver-mother and chronicling my grandfather's will to live.
As my grandfather declines physically, my grandmother, 94, loses more of herself every day to Alzheimer's. In her forgetfulness, she is slow-moving and difficult to stay on task; my grandfather's frustrations mount. Often, she cannot recall who he is other than "the nice man who takes care of me." Once inseparable, married for 69 years, it becomes clear that they can no longer live together.
During my grandfather's hospitalizations and stays at rehabilitation facilities, my grandmother frets. Her longtime companion, one whom lately she can not often place in her mind is absent. For all the fighting and disagreements they have had throughout their marriage, and there have been plenty, each day upon seeing each other anew, they quickly reach for each other's hands and immediately whisper "I love you" to the other.
This body of work, Marriage, explores issues of living and dying, through the decline of a body and of a mind, in the context of a lifelong relationship. What once was, can no longer be, and a new way is forged. The images are testament to the human need for another, for companionship and togetherness.
My grandparents' last goodbye was in April 2013.
