Saturday, November 14, 2015
Hundreds of people gathered at Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday wearing purple. Shirts, tutus, pants, painted faces, dyed hair, socks, even mustaches. All purple and all in remembrance of someone special. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network was holding their annual PurpleStride Atlanta 5k that started at the park and wound 3.1 miles through downtown Atlanta. Families and friends laughed, cried, smiled and told stories about their loved ones as they moved through the gates and out onto the streets to walk and raise money for pancreatic cancer research.
I wasn’t just there to take photos of the event, I was a participant. I have lost both my father-in-law Jerry Kelley and Angelina Hamlet, a woman who I considered my second mother, to this terrible disease. It’s hard to diagnose and it doesn’t play fair. The mortality rate is extremely high and the cancer moves quickly throughout the body. It is usually a death sentence. Instead of showing the tears involved with Saturday I wanted to show the hope. That’s why I picked this image. The smiles, the pictures of fathers, mothers, and friends, the purple everywhere. They all embody the walk and everything about the those two little words. Wage Hope.
Ayanna Muhammad (left) and her sister Halimah work to hang a picture of their father before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Laurie Plath (center) and Kristen Nigro register to walk in the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Alex Payne (center) is scooped up by his cousin Jordan Payne as he plays in the leaves before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Sherri Grady hangs a picture of her mother before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Kaycie Smith (right) and Allie Rainbow decorate masks before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Jennifer Nealer (center) has Krysta Meyers put purple extensions in her hair before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Aubrey Carros (left) and her mother Tonya hang a tribute to Aubrey’s grandmother before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Karen Williamson (center) glances at her sign as she, her son Ethan and step mother Linda wait for the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Sporting angel wings, Amy Siggers (left), Rick Spano and Brittany Wetherhold wait for the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Jose Garcia (center) warms up with stretches and zumba before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Sally Keichert (left) Gretchen Vaughan hold up wage hope sashes before the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Sarah Tushin (bottom center) holds a wage hope sash as she waits for the start of the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Becca Sadri (center) holds up a sign in memory of Robert Sundberg as she walks in the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Simone Price exits Centennial Olympic Park as she walks in the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Loyda Zimot (left) passes the Sky Wheel as she walks in the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.
Dressed as a Care Bear, Veronica Bramlett (center) holds hands with her step daughter Emily (left), Alex Payne and his sister Jenna as they walk in the PurpleStride Atlanta 5k at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday, November 14, 2015.