2010 March — Minneapolis Wedding, Event and Portrait Photography by Austin Images

Playa del Carmen, Mexico 2010

Well, I finally got my internet up and running thanks to Carlos at Hotel Lunata on 5th avenue! Arrived yesterday and getting off that plane in Cancun was like coming home. I just love coming here. This trip is pretty crazy, however, so much has changed in such a short period of time. I mean, things change down here all the time….I always say “expect the unexpected” but this time I really mean it! About 45 minutes south of the airport and all that is “Miami South” (Cancun) is Playa del Carmen. It used to be thought of as “a sleepy little drinking town with a fishing problem” and now…Holy Hannah…the growth is out of control! Perhaps they will soon change the name to “Playa del Condo”!

Some sad news….My (now not so) awesome vacation camera…the 10D decided to wait until I got here to crap out on me. I could just strangle Canon! It’s been a “back up” camera for a few years and now I am resorting to shooting with my iPhone! I always wondered what it would take to “unplug” on a trip and now I know…with no camera and no international data plan…I’m….well…sunk. I feel like a kid in a candy store with…no mouth! I have another camera on the way! Lucky me…my sister and her family are joining tomorrow and so you could say I’m having a replacement camera flown in! What can I say…I’m a junkie!

I’m sitting here in the entry hall at the base of the stairs that lead to the reception and there is a constant stream of people coming and going. Not unlike when I first popped my head in here and said, “How much are the rooms?” Seriously. The rest, for me, is hotel history. I love it here. Only 10 rooms, the are all named not numbered, includes a breakfast in the garden. At the risk of running myself out of a room one day….pop in and ask for Fabiola and tell her Susan & Gary Austin sent you! I promise you she won’t charge you double!

Ran into Ann & Jim Keller on the beach today. Of all people! They practically hopped on a plane right after mom’s memorial service. I had no idea that they were fans of Playa. Nice. Fun to bump into friends anytime but Mexico! Totally a God thing cuz Ann had this ring on that I commented on RIGHT AWAY!!! She got it here last night on 5th….at Swarovski…YIKES! I just stopped in from the beach and grabbed one myself…GORgeous!! Can’t show you yet..but it’ll be worth the wait!

Hey…what do you think I do all day on our vacations….blog? Gotta run…there’s a beer calling my name and they don’t drink themselves down here ya know!

Exhale. Seems simple enough…

Since the recent loss of my mother (March 5th, 2010) I have been trying to reunite myself with with my old self. I thought this would be easy…just go back to what I was doing before November 5th, 2009…the date we got the devastating news of the return of her kidney cancer (metastatic renal cell carcinoma). Turns out, for me, it’s harder than I thought. While I certainly don’t miss the drive out to the Marie Steiner Kelting Hospice Home I do miss the reason I made the trip each day…to see my mom. Good days or bad days, a friend writes on his son’s Caring Bridge pages, they were all worth it.

Days after my mom’s death I found myself wandering about aimlessly and finally I turned and I asked Gary, “What did I used to do?” I mean I literally feel like I’m starting over or something. It’s really weird….or is it? I feel lost…or am I? Perhaps it’s all normal, I’m certain it must be because after all….I’m normal….aren’t I? All the things I got good at doing the past 4 months all need to be replaced with what I was good at before that first Thursday in November. Oh sure, I’ll fumble around a bit but before I know it I’ll be back on top of things instead of underneath it all. I can see my horizon from here and it looks beautiful!

I will confess this….as a Wedding and Portrait Photographer I found myself praising God, selfishly, for bringing this trial to our lives in my “off season”. I was truly blessed to be able to spend nearly every day with my mom as she endured being bed ridden with life threatening, pathological fractures, managing pain with unbelievable amounts of narcotics while waiting for these abnormal cells to take over her body…at the young age of 71. This, my friends, was an amazing woman and I did not want to miss a minute with her…I rarely did, all due to God’s perfect timing.

I know that my life is forever changed now but my parents are reunited and I find such joy in knowing that one day…I will join them.

Thank you all for your continued, heartfelt prayers.

God Bless.