99 on 09/09/09
"Marc Ricks, 98-years-old, peers outside window after reading a book in the family room of his son's Provo home, Wednesday afternoon. Ricks, who lives with his son and daughter-in-law, will be 99-years-old on Sept. 9, 2009. He sleeps late, and doesn't leave the house much. Most of his time is spent gazing out the window, watching the world go by, and reading."
This job is a never ending opportunity to meet wonderful, new people every day.
Last week, I got to hangout with Provo resident Marc Ricks for a couple hours. His story is a once in a life time story; mathematically.
Ricks celebrated his 99th birthday on the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of the 21st century -- that's 99 on 9/9/09. Like I said, it's in the numbers.
For being 99-years-old Ricks had the common wear as anyone at that age would. A little hard of hearing and forgetful. "My memory is not getting better at this point," he said to me at the house.
The fantastic part about that though is that his daughter-in-law created a personal history for him entitled: "An Autobiography of a Family Doctor."
From his own hand-written notes to photographs transformed into a printed hardback book, Ricks is never far from a memory, whether or not he can recall a story. A couple flips of his book and he'd be back down memory lane reading aloud.
But that's what keeps him happy. He sleeps late, and doesn't leave the house much. Most of his time is spent gazing out the window, watching the world go by, and reading.
Although Ricks only read, ate lunch and spoke with his sister-in-law, and it was hard to comprehend Ricks at times, I really enjoyed my time with him. His was sharp as a tack though. He made me laugh many times when I didn't expect it.
Before I left, Ricks asked, "If you were offered to be rich, or have the ability to study, what would you chose?"
Tough question I thought. I sat silent for a good minute. Who doesn't want to be wealthy, yet at the same time, and I guess I looked into the question sincerely, deeply, who doesn't want to learn?
I looked him in the eyes and said, "The ability to study, learn."
He smiled back, "Good choice. I chose the same thing during my life, and look what I have achieved in my life. More importantly, look who I am surrounded by: Family."
Good words.
Technically speaking, the first image was my favorite. I thought it spoke in volumes about him and his faith, in a place he sits all day. But it didn't make the final edit.
Here is the layout of the front page of the section, which funneled into more of a spread inside of the above images.
This job is a never ending opportunity to meet wonderful, new people every day.
Last week, I got to hangout with Provo resident Marc Ricks for a couple hours. His story is a once in a life time story; mathematically.
Ricks celebrated his 99th birthday on the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of the 21st century -- that's 99 on 9/9/09. Like I said, it's in the numbers.
For being 99-years-old Ricks had the common wear as anyone at that age would. A little hard of hearing and forgetful. "My memory is not getting better at this point," he said to me at the house.
The fantastic part about that though is that his daughter-in-law created a personal history for him entitled: "An Autobiography of a Family Doctor."
From his own hand-written notes to photographs transformed into a printed hardback book, Ricks is never far from a memory, whether or not he can recall a story. A couple flips of his book and he'd be back down memory lane reading aloud.
But that's what keeps him happy. He sleeps late, and doesn't leave the house much. Most of his time is spent gazing out the window, watching the world go by, and reading.
Although Ricks only read, ate lunch and spoke with his sister-in-law, and it was hard to comprehend Ricks at times, I really enjoyed my time with him. His was sharp as a tack though. He made me laugh many times when I didn't expect it.
Before I left, Ricks asked, "If you were offered to be rich, or have the ability to study, what would you chose?"
Tough question I thought. I sat silent for a good minute. Who doesn't want to be wealthy, yet at the same time, and I guess I looked into the question sincerely, deeply, who doesn't want to learn?
I looked him in the eyes and said, "The ability to study, learn."
He smiled back, "Good choice. I chose the same thing during my life, and look what I have achieved in my life. More importantly, look who I am surrounded by: Family."
Good words.
Technically speaking, the first image was my favorite. I thought it spoke in volumes about him and his faith, in a place he sits all day. But it didn't make the final edit.
Here is the layout of the front page of the section, which funneled into more of a spread inside of the above images.
posted by Patrick Smith at 1:11 AM
2 Comments:
>>"This job is a never ending opportunity to meet wonderful, new people every day."
_________
I remember when that was the part of the job that terrified you the most. Glad to see you discovering the best part of the profession -- the people and experiences.
1 & 5 are INSANELY awesome. Did you shoot this Nikon or Canon?
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