dan . 45 years old / denver . colorado
after getting a haircut from katie o'shea (one of the strangers!) and shaving off my beard, i felt like a brand new man. i set out into another gorgeous denver day with an extra skip in my step to look for today's stranger.
i didn't have much of a plan, so i started wandering. for seemingly no reason in particular, i decided to walk down grant street. i made it just the length of one block and then came upon this man landscaping the garden at the masonic temple.
i wasn't totally convinced that he was going to say yes, but he looked extremely interesting, so i couldn't pass him by. he looked much more manly than i did, as i was sporting short shorts and a polo shirt and showing off my cleanly shaven, boyish face. i had already been turned down by an older woman who looked as if i had threatened to beat her. she literally cowered. that always takes a bit of a toll on me, so i prepared myself for another rejection.
as i gave him my spiel, he was very silent. he simply nodded to let me know that he heard me, but then he cracked a bit of a smile when i told him about the project. i'll always take a smile as a good sign! dan gave me the go ahead, despite the fact that he had a lot of work ahead of him today. he and another guy were landscaping all over the state, so he could only take a couple of minutes. i was grateful for that, so we set to work right away.
i positioned him in the shade and then asked him to remove his sunglasses. when he did, i was surprised to see such kind eyes. it's easy to be thrown off by one's outward appearances and i find myself guilty of generalizing people every day. dan stared confidently into my lens as if he'd done this a million times before. i fired away as quickly and efficiently as i could.
when i was finished, i asked dan if he would sign a model release for me. he had no qualms with that and began filling out the paperwork. he asked me what the date was and as i told him, i also made some chit chat about time passing my so quickly. he responded by telling me that last year was a blur because he had suffered from a serious heart attack and he's still lost in the days and months.
his story goes like this... one day last year, in the middle of a conversation, dan's heart stopped. he fell to the ground and died instantly. he was rushed to the hospital where the surgeons tore into his chest, fixed his heart, and brought him back from the dead.
while i was standing there, listening to this story with my jaw dragging on the ground, he lifted up his shirt to show me his scar. i was blown away. i suggested that he must be enjoying every day now, and he looked up at me and said, with extreme conviction, that he was living a lot differently now than he was before. and he made a point to tell me that he's definitely not getting angry like he used to.
i'm extremely grateful for my meeting with dan today. his story will stick with me long after i forget my own name, i am sure. i hope i see him again soon because i'd like to spend more time talking.
thank you, dan! i'm glad you were given another chance!
after getting a haircut from katie o'shea (one of the strangers!) and shaving off my beard, i felt like a brand new man. i set out into another gorgeous denver day with an extra skip in my step to look for today's stranger.
i didn't have much of a plan, so i started wandering. for seemingly no reason in particular, i decided to walk down grant street. i made it just the length of one block and then came upon this man landscaping the garden at the masonic temple.
i wasn't totally convinced that he was going to say yes, but he looked extremely interesting, so i couldn't pass him by. he looked much more manly than i did, as i was sporting short shorts and a polo shirt and showing off my cleanly shaven, boyish face. i had already been turned down by an older woman who looked as if i had threatened to beat her. she literally cowered. that always takes a bit of a toll on me, so i prepared myself for another rejection.
as i gave him my spiel, he was very silent. he simply nodded to let me know that he heard me, but then he cracked a bit of a smile when i told him about the project. i'll always take a smile as a good sign! dan gave me the go ahead, despite the fact that he had a lot of work ahead of him today. he and another guy were landscaping all over the state, so he could only take a couple of minutes. i was grateful for that, so we set to work right away.
i positioned him in the shade and then asked him to remove his sunglasses. when he did, i was surprised to see such kind eyes. it's easy to be thrown off by one's outward appearances and i find myself guilty of generalizing people every day. dan stared confidently into my lens as if he'd done this a million times before. i fired away as quickly and efficiently as i could.
when i was finished, i asked dan if he would sign a model release for me. he had no qualms with that and began filling out the paperwork. he asked me what the date was and as i told him, i also made some chit chat about time passing my so quickly. he responded by telling me that last year was a blur because he had suffered from a serious heart attack and he's still lost in the days and months.
his story goes like this... one day last year, in the middle of a conversation, dan's heart stopped. he fell to the ground and died instantly. he was rushed to the hospital where the surgeons tore into his chest, fixed his heart, and brought him back from the dead.
while i was standing there, listening to this story with my jaw dragging on the ground, he lifted up his shirt to show me his scar. i was blown away. i suggested that he must be enjoying every day now, and he looked up at me and said, with extreme conviction, that he was living a lot differently now than he was before. and he made a point to tell me that he's definitely not getting angry like he used to.
i'm extremely grateful for my meeting with dan today. his story will stick with me long after i forget my own name, i am sure. i hope i see him again soon because i'd like to spend more time talking.
thank you, dan! i'm glad you were given another chance!
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