I only met Canada’s legendary photojournalist, Ted Grant, once. But, our meeting was important enough that (after he died) he came to me in a dream and asked me to write the story of the great love he shared with his wife, Irene. The story begins with Irene’s death.
When Irene died, Ted was devastated. He and his family didn’t think he could survive without her loving, quick witted, practical, anchoring, guiding, daily support. During their 63 year marriage, Irene had raised their family and ran their household while Ted travelled the world taking photographs.
Ted’s biographer, Thelma Fayle writes, “It was a raw and painful transition, and he stumbled through it one step at a time. Yet, in spite of the unbearable sadness, Ted was determined to find some semblance of beauty and purpose in each day.”
“A few months later, when he grew a little stronger, he decided that he was not going to learn to live with grief. Grief was going to need to learn to live with him.”
In short, Ted was determined to get his bearings and figure things out. He applied the same kind of methodology that he had used throughout his life. “This is what I have to live with and so I am going to get on with my life in the same ways I have always lived.”
For Ted, getting on with his life meant travel, photography, and photo exhibitions. And wherever he went he was always ready to show his work to whoever was interested. Because he loved being the centre of attention, he was the master of pop-up photo exhibits.
The one time I met him, Ted was presiding over an informal pop-up photo exhibit he had organized at his senior’s apartment building. My friend who I was visiting invited me to join in with a small group of admirers in time to listen to his short speech. “My photographs, journalism and travels are dedicated to my late wife, Irene. The life we shared together while she was alive was as good as life can get. Because of our love, we were able to come as close to God as it is possible for two living people to do.“
“Since her death, I’ve dedicated myself to doing my best to continue making my life as good as it can get. Every time I get as close to God as we used to do, I take a photograph. Each photograph I take immediately goes straight to Irene in the form of a blast of fireworks, letting her know how much I love her. The rest of the world needs to wait for the photos to be edited, developed and organized.
With the help of these photographs, I gather people around me. My mission is partly to show you my photographs, but mainly to remind everyone I meet that the purpose of our lives is to love each other and love our beautiful world.”
Ted Grant’s biography by Thelma Fayle “Ted Grant: Sixty Years of Legendary Photojournalism” available wherever books are sold.
To me, Ted Grant’s enthusiasm for sharing his life’s work is encouraging me to be enthusiastic about sharing my life’s work. Click here for more posts from my blog.
My name is Linda Hill. My memoir Together Still: Love Beyond Death is available wherever books are sold as a paperback, e-book, and audio book. Now I am travelling the world virtually and in person sharing my story and listening to others’ stories about Continuing Loving Bonds.
I am an ordinary person who became extraordinarily special and magical by receiving the greatest gift there ever was which is simply to love and be loved in return. Most people in the world have also had the extraordinary opportunity to fulfill the purpose of life which is to cultivate unconditionally loving relationships with one or more family members, friends, pets, and the more-than-human wild beings in nature. Some of us have even found intimate love with a soulmate. Everyone who has ever loved experiences deep grief when someone we love dearly dies. My mission is to help you transform your deep grief back into the deep love it has always been. This well researched but little known practice is called Continuing Loving Bonds. If you haven’t already done so, I hope you will subscribe to my blog by leaving your email below. And, you can click here for more information about how to sign up for our Continuing Loving Bonds Story Sharing Circles that will begin again in October.
CONTINUING LOVING BONDS 