Portraits – Page 3 – Lorin Duckman Today

Lorin Duckman, 72

I turned 72, which was a good thing and a not so good thing. As to the former, I am alive; as to the latter I have CLL, a blood disorder that isn’t lymphoma or leukemia, but what it is requires me to take pills everyday and be fearful of falling or catching a cold.

I have a marriage that thrives, even though I didn’t support us as planned or become the man we both wanted me to be. I cannot shake the past and don’t have much of a productive future planned. My photography comes second to my wife, so for those two things, I don’t want for attention, assignments or affection.

I read, shoot pictures, travel and volunteer. The images I make at the Soup Kitchen of Boynton Beach are printed and handed out. I have been given a wall that needs to be filled. People leave stuff at our door which I deliver and I beg for diapers (4s and 5s), along with donations of money, clothes and household goods.

Nothing can be done to ease my pain or fix the story. No one knows what happened to me, except a select few and I am not important enough to find out the truth. Not saying I was perfect, just not so imperfect to have been the subject of judicial and political torture. Few friends, none close, and few relatives, none close. Not so bad as long as I live.

Liz Duckman, 72

Family. One month older than I am. Distant family. Cousin. I have no other family.

Loxahatchee Look

all alone. with my camera. never that alone. i can always try to see myself. so people tell me to move on. i tell them that it is hard to move on when you are trying to hold on.

Ibrutinib/Imbruvica

I have been taking Imbruvica for one year. I have not been sick, though I cannot say I have been well, either. But I am still alive and have not caught any diseases or had a cold. How long will it keep working? Will I have a relapse or go into remission. Tomorrow, the Cancer Doctor. I like seeing him. It’s the sitting in the waiting room that I cannot deal with.

Sharon’s Eames Chair

We always wanted an Eames Chair, but could not afford it. Still cannot. We settled for a knockoff. Got to “keep on truckin'”.

With a strong shout out to R Crumb who created this long lasting image and phrase.

Passed Over

Sharon has that look that she gave Bob Mueller. You can tell what she is thinking. No such thing as the truth in politics or photography.

Me? Don’t guess. I will never forget, but today, who knows if I remember.

Now What

Life Lines Up

Everybody Knows

Linda, Bird Photographer and Birder

I see her all the time when Sharon and I walk in nearby nature preserves. She draws a crowd of photographers and birders. During a rain delay, I introduced myself and talked to her. She has catalogue over 300 birds at Green Cay. Her overture to do a book was rebuffed. She left in mid- conversation when the rain subsided. “I got to get a bird,” she said.