When I was in the seventh grade my dad was diagnosed with Cancer. Yes C-A-N-C-E-R!  His initial diagnosis was that he had two weeks to live, but he held strong for three years after that.

Needless to say, his diagnosis completely changed everything. After that my life consisted of going to the hospital at lunch instead of going off with my friends. In the second year of his illness my parents would be gone for months at a time, while my dad received treatment at Stanford Medical Center. It was close calls, to remission, to relapse. Thanksgiving dinners in a box, and plastic Christmas trees in hospital waiting rooms.

It was actually spending a lot of time at Stanford that introduced me to art. I used to walk the hospital halls just staring at the artwork, and would draw other families in the ICU waiting room. My dad was an avid photographer, and always carried a camera. Shortly before passing he gave me his beloved Nikon, which pointed me in the direction of photography.

-Whitney Aiken