Transition

Joseph Craanen, RIP

A few weeks ago 'round about Xmas, I found out a former client of mine was in hospital; a true gentle giant of a man, not a mean bone in his entire body, a body now wracked with cancer. Teachers and caretakers are quick to opine that it is we who learn from our students, our charge; it sounds incredibly high minded and altruistic (it's meant to), but truth be told- it's not quite always the case. I was taken aback when Joseph calmly stated that he knew he was dying, knew that nothing could be done, taken aback by the same amazing degree of grace and dignity I had seen him display throughout his life. You can't teach that to anyone, disabilities or not.

One day when I went to visit, he had been taken out for some tests, and not knowing what to do, I resorted to doing what I usually do in an area I'm not that familiar with, I went out and walked about the neighborhood. Excelsior is a working class neighborhood on the outer periphery of San Francisco. It's where I took the two snaps below, bodies in transition, as are we all...

Photos: © Stan Banos