Jesus Wept

Panorama shot of Our Lady of Peace from my seat *click to enlarge*

It's hard to say that I had a good time at a funeral. But when I say I had a good time at Dani's funeral today, understand this is exactly how she would have wanted it.

This year was to be the "Year of Dani" as she often put it. She had a plan to get herself together physically, spiritually, and professionally. She dubbed this effort "Operation Daffodil". The daffodil symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings. This year Danielle wanted to begin anew and bring herself back to center. With Danielle's passing, it looks like her rebirth and new beginning has realized itself. She completed "Operation Daffodil" this past Sunday, nearly a week ago, when she slipped the bonds of this Earth and ascended into the choirs of Heaven.

"Operation Daffodil" Thank you to Mary Anne,
a long time friend of Danielle's for
giving me this daffodil

You may not believe in this vision of the afterlife, but Danielle did. During her funeral mass her faith was described in the Homily. She loved her church, her priests, and all that came with it. The exciting stuff like singing every Sunday, and the mundane, like organizing a parish raffle. As I looked up at the ceiling, feeling tears coming, I noticed a small detail. The lights directly above my head, hanging from the ceiling, was swaying. I looked at all the others and they were still, but the one above my head swayed gently the entire time.

After communion Jim Donovan took the pulpit to deliver a eulogy to end all eulogies. Jim described Danielle's life with all the passion and excitement as a Browns game on Sundays. At times his memories shed tears, and within minutes he had us all laughing as he recounted fond memory after fond memory. He gave us comfort. He gave us closure. Laughter is the best medicine, and even as we all laughed, we still had tears shrink wrapped on our eyes. At the end of the eulogy Jim offered a prediction. Danielle was the biggest Indians fan in all of Cleveland, and now that she is passed he predicted that the Indians will win the World Series this year, because now they have someone in Heaven that can effect their game.

As we left behind Danielle's casket flanked with co-workers, friends, and family I took a quick look back at that light above where I sat. It was motionless.

Danielle had left the building and Jesus wept.

Remembering a Friend

Danielle (purple shirt) giving a tour of WKYC to the PIO MOD Squad on Friday January 18, 2013

There are never enough good words to describe who or what Danielle was to all of us. She was full of life and energy. Devoted to her work, her friends, her family, and above all else God. She always spoke of her mother who had passed like she was just on a vacation. 

If you followed her on Twitter you found her enthusiasm for life infectious. She was always upbeat and positive despite reasons to be anything but. She meant so much to so many and we can all create entire Thesaurus' devoted to words that could describe her. The best way to remember someone is to tell stories. 

Danielle and I had a lot of fun this past summer. We both covered the "Hotter in Cleveland" full scale disaster drill. That's where we met. We had so much fun. We would ask the wet behind the ears intern that was with us these strange questions, and dammit if he didn't find answers to them. We had great fun. Later in the Summer we sailed on the USS DeWert to Detroit with another friend Erica Creech from the Department of Safety. That trip was amazing despite how it ended. We both had bags stolen from a car while we ate dinner, but in the end her optimism about the situation was amazing and kept me from falling into a depression about it. I was fortunate to attend a Tribe game with Danielle. If you want to see a true fan, Danielle is your girl. Where many of us have abandon the team like a condemned building, she pulled on her HAZMAT suit and hung in there. She was so excited about the pending 2013 season. 

Danielle (left) at "Hotter in Cleveland" 

Today when I learned she had passed, I learned a lot about Danielle. I learned she was my biggest cheerleader and fan. She liked my photography and she told a lot of folks about it. I have gotten direct messages all afternoon telling me that she said all these things about me. I had no idea. Danielle was the reason I was on TV this past week. She gave all she could to her friends. She really showed them she cared at all times. If you tweeted you were having a bad day, she was there trying to lift you up. I am forever grateful for all the words of encouragement she has given me. I continue to be inspired by her life and how many lives she touched. I am glad I could and can call her my friend.

This past Friday was the last time I saw and spoke with Danielle. She was giving a tour of Channel 3 to, what I would call, the PIO MOD Squad. Most folks would be a good host and get us drinks, but Danielle took it step further and got us dinner and snacks. She always went above and beyond for her friends and colleagues, you will hear this anytime someone talks about her.

I can't imagine the hurt and pain WKYC is feeling in their newsroom. All of Cleveland is mourning tonight. Danielle will be missed, but I know she is dancing with her mother now. 

Danielle you are loved. You are missed. It was a privilege to call you a friend. 

This is not good-bye. This is just see you later. 

Shot in the Dark

I hear the dryer going in the other room. Turns out when you are going to be on TV you need clean clothes. Who knew? So last night, BURN premiered in Cleveland to a sold out show ( I get to go tonight and see it and I'm jacked!). Today I go on live TV talking about the film and my fire photography and what it all means.

To say I am nervous about it is an understatement. I've done live TV before and even still I have those butterflies. TV Cameras, lights, and a host can turn the most articulate of people into babbling idiots. I have been trying to tell myself that that won't happen, but who knows, it's live TV. Part of me feels I need to do something that will make it go viral. Some suggestions from Facebook were to pick my nose, release a flatulent  or even set a fire on the desk and pull out my camera. All would do the trick at the expense of my credibility, but hell I like where their heads are.

In reality I just hoping to put some exposure on a film that should be distributed wide by Hollywood and isn't. Why? Who knows, but this film needs to be seen by everyone in the country. Detroit Fire Department is what happens when you cut and cut and cut and you have a growing number of abandon houses; and gas and matches cost less than a movie ticket.

Arson is a scary thing. It is scary for residents and terrifying for firefighter's families. Arsonists kill firemen. Period. If there was any Midwestern city that closely resembles Detroit it would be Cleveland. Detroit is rising like a phoenix from the ashed because of their firemen. Cleveland isn't on fire because of it's firemen. Detroit needs to be supported, despite that University up there.

If you are reading this after seeing me on TV; welcome, hope I didn't babble like an idiot. You can contact me right here by commenting, clicking on my contact tab and filling out the form, or tweet me. I put a lot of photos on Flickr so head over there if you want to see more stuff.

January has been my month so far. A photo of mine published in Cleveland Magazine, an appearance on TV talking about a genre of photography that is making a surge to mainstream, and hopefully it ends in a paying gig somewhere, somehow.

2013, thanks for showing up for me so far. Don't mess it up.