Melissa Hassey » Hope Afloat

Remembrance Celebration for Jacque Gray

melissa — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:46:41 +0000

Jacque Gray was a member of Hope Afloat, the breast cancer survivor’s dragon boat team that my mom is a member of. Hope Afloat is an amazing group of dedicated, strong, talented, supportive, fun and determined women. They have formed many bonds through their battles with breast cancer, their camaraderie as a team and so many other life, love, travel and friendship experiences. As survivors of breast cancer, they have built quite an impressive support system for one another. Unfortunately, what has pulled them together has also brought them pain. They have lost wonderful friends to this terrible disease. Sadly, Jacque Gray was one of those women.

My mom knew Jacque both from Hope Afloat as well as her workplace, Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. I didn’t know Jacque but can see that she made a very strong impact on many people. I had hoped to meet Jacque, whom I had heard so much about, when I accompanied Hope Afloat on their trip to Australia in 2007. Unfortunately, it turned out that Jacque was unable to make the trip due to her illness. This must have been heartbreaking for her. I know that those on the team that had made the trip felt her absence then as, surely, they do even more strongly now.

Since Jacque’s family lives in Ohio and many people were unable to attend the services held there, a Remembrance Ceremony was held at The Vesper Club on Boathouse Row. Jacque’s friends, family, co-workers and teammates were in attendance. I was asked to come and take some photographs. of the event and of course said yes.

There were kind words spoken by many, a poem, a slide show of photographs, remembrance pins that were designed in Jacque’s honor, a flower ceremony on the river and a customized boa made of hand written sentiments on ribbons. There was also an array of food and drinks including a favorite recipe of Jacque’s, Spiced Cake (so delicious!)

Though I didn’t know Jacque, I found the entire ceremony very touching and beautiful. I learned a lot about her and the lives that she touched in her all too short time here. She clearly will be missed by many.

Here are some photographs of the event:

It was a befittingly dreary and rainy day….

Some teammates write sentiments on the ribbons (to be made into a boa and worn on the boat).

The slide show ran the entire time and included various photographs of Jacque, family and friends. It was really nice.

Jacque’s parents listen to the heartwarming words of friends…

My mom hugs her teammate and good friend, Dale.

After the speakers, everyone headed outside for the flower ceremony. The rain was really coming down and even still a whole group of people paddled the boat all the way down the river from the dock for the ceremony.

The flowers were thrown into the river to commemorate Jacque’s life. I’ve seen a few of these ceremonies and they are always very emotional.

Fundraiser for Hope Afloat!

melissa — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:29:14 +0000

Hi All!!

So, this isn’t actually a normal portrait post…. however, it is fun and for a very good cause. My mom’s amazing breast cancer survivor’s dragon boat team, HOPE AFLOAT, is having a fundraiser. They need to sell 100 tickets to a Camden Riversharks baseball game in order to benefit from the fundraiser. So, if you enjoy baseball, need something to do, or just want to support a fantastic group of women/ survivors, this is your chance. : )

Information below::

RIVERSHARKS!

Enjoy an afternoon at Campbell Field for America’s favorite past time—encourage your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and communities to join us for this FUN “fund” raiser!

WHEN: Sunday MAY 23rd, 1:05pm

COST: $11. per tix — $5. of this will be donated by the Riversharks to Hope Afloat!

HOW:

1. Visit www.riversharks.com

2. Click on gold “Log-In” button (mid-page to the right–in Fundraising box)

3. Enter “HopeAfloat” (all one word, no spaces!)

4. Click on “Buy” link

5. Pick your seats by clicking the green circles (we’re in section 216 — 3rd base!)

6. Click “Buy Tickets”
7. Click “Confirm Order” (no need to enter our promo code again)

8. Create a log on & follow instructions to provide a payment method

9. Submit order! (if you print your own tix you save $$—no delivery fee!)

Peanuts and Cracker Jack not included BUT ice cream after the game is! Plus there will be fun shirt giveaways and baseball cards—what an awesome way to spend a Sunday!

SEE YOU THERE!

Okay, a couple of photos just because…. ; )

Jack

melissa — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:34:16 +0000

A couple of years ago, I was asked to photograph a wedding. Both fortunately & unfortunately, a huge opportunity to go to Australia with Hope Afloat sent me in a different direction that day. Two fantastic friends and photographers (Dani DiAngelo & Faith Andrews) of mine ended up photographing the beautiful wedding instead. Through the photographs they took, I felt like I knew so much more about the couple. They had a beautiful wedding day and I was sorry to have missed it.

That said, I had been wanting an opportunity to work with them. They had their first baby boy about 5 months ago and contacted me about photographing him. I was delighted!

Baby Jack is adorable! We started out in his Easter outfit, complete with a baby jeff cap. So cute! As it was a gorgeous day, he soon got warm and ready to get out of those clothes. The best part was that he LOVES Lady Gaga. His parents mentioned that this would instantly make him happy, and they were right! The funny thing is that this isn’t the first baby that I have heard to be a Gaga fan. Then I thought: genius! her name is lady “gaga”. She speaks their language. Haha!

Here are some pics!

This red blur is elmo. : )

And, of course, no baby blog is complete without little hands and feet:

LympheDIVAs!

melissa — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:39:45 +0000

a little while back i had the opportunity to take some photographs for LymphDIVAs. Lymphedivas makes fashionable compression apparel for breast cancer survivors with lymphedema. They had donated and custom designed a bunch of sleeves to Hope Alfloat, a breast cancer survivor dragon boat racing team. Since my mom is on the team and since I love Hope Afloat, oh and because Lymphedivas is really great, I donated some time and photographs for them to use on their website and otherwise.

Follow THIS LINK to view the blog about this on their website.

Also, here are a few pics from the day:

the lovely ladies of hope afloat

warming up for a race…

the custom designed sleeve

the owners of LympheDIVAs, Dr. Howard Levin and Judy Levin, and the women of Hope Afloat wearing the new sleeves