News from our friend, Bruce Bane

Bruce Bane is kind enough to let me share his thoughts from his own blog, Living With Dementia. We have a small group of us with FTD that apparently don’t know we aren’t supposed to write or speak, or be creative. Here’s some beautiful samples of seeing the world through Bruce’s eyes. Enjoy.

Fair Photography Results

Posted July 27, 2010

Filed under: Reflections |

I went to the fair today and found out that of the 15 pictures I entered 4 won 1st place and 11 won 2nd place. I’m very happy about this. It feels good to be able to do something that is on par with people who don’t have dementia. The first places photos are below and you can see both them and the second place photos on my photo album page.

These are just two samples of his amazing work.

Now here’s his blog about how he came to be there:

I’m doing something this Saturday that I’ve wanted to do for several years – I’m entering some of my photographs in the county fair. It took the encouragement and help of the nurses who work with me, but in the end it’s my project and I feel good about it. Like I said, I’ve wanted to do this for years, but kept putting it off thinking there would always be time. But dementia has made me realize that isn’t true.

I’ve always enjoyed photography. And I’m lucky I can still take pictures because there are other things I can’t do anymore, things I should have enjoyed more when I was able, things I would do if I could. These are things that are lost to me because of dementia. They make up a kind of “could ‘a, would ‘a, should ‘a” list; things I could ‘a, would ‘a, should ‘a done if I’d have known what life had in store for me. Instead, I took my life for granted. And now I know I need to let go of the things on that list, but it’s hard to do. So it’s good to have things like photography, painting and writing that I can hang on to. Being able to do these things help to take away some of the sadness of the “could ‘a, would ‘a, should ‘a” list.

So wish me luck. I can’t deny that I would like to win some award. But even if I don’t, it’s been a fun project and I’ve gotten a lot of affirmation from the people who have helped me. I will post my entries on the photo album page of this blog and on my Facebook page. And if I do win anything, I’ll let you know.

Congratulations, Bruce!! You inspire us, your words are our own, except we can’t find them as beautifully as you can. Love & blessings, Vicki

{{{{{Bruce}}}}}