Sadly Unprepared

December 14, 2003

Do not under any circumstances leave the camera at home ever again. That is the lesson I learned this week.

Sadly my wife’s grandmother passed away a few days back. The day of the burial it occurred to me to bring my camera along but ultimately I decided against it since it felt in poor taste to photograph the family grieving this huge loss.

Little did I know that as soon as we arrived at the service I would be handed a little video camera and be asked by my father-in-law to record the proceedings. Although doubtful for a minute I agreed to document the service since the way he asked said to me that it was important and it meant a lot to the family to have a record of the sad event.

At the end I am glad I was there to tape the service. I am lucky to have witnessed such a touching moment and such an intimate view of my wife’s family. At the same time I am angry at myself for having missed the opportunity to document such a display of human emotion with something else besides a poor quality video tape.