Pablove Shutterbugs helps kids forget about their hospital life. It was fun and exciting all at the same time, and I am very thankful that Akron Children’s Hospital could be a part of it this fall.

Many kids, including myself, have spent a lot of days and nights in the hospital without being able to go to school or school functions. Pablove Shutterbugs was a way we could express how we look at life on a day-to-day basis. In my case, I have been going to the hospital for three years and a lot has changed because I started taking pictures. I can look at all of my photos and think back about each moment.

The five-week program was outpatient, and because I work on a farm, I had to get up and go to work and then drive 1 ½ hours away to get to class each Saturday. What motivated me to do this were the teachers and volunteers who took the time out of their lives for us, and to guide us in the art of photography. Pictures really are worth a thousand words. Pictures can express the way a person feels or capture a memory that we don’t want to forget. My pictures are memories of my life outside the hospital, and they also remind me of all that I have been through in the last three years of my life.

Pablove Shutterbugs has made a huge impact in my life; my camera is always with me and I am always trying to take the best pictures that I can. Taking pictures keeps my mind busy and off of being sick. Even though the class and fall session has ended, I am now taking so many pictures that it takes up most of my time when I’m not at work. Photography is an escape from not feeling well.

My favorite pictures are the ones I take at work, thanks to an assignment from class. Our homework one week was called “A day in the life” where we were instructed to take pictures from when we woke up that day until we went to bed. For my assignment, I took my camera with me to work and took pictures of tractors and cows (and me feeding them!). It was so much fun!

Some of my favorite pictures are the ones I took at the farm of me feeding animals and the tractors. I love taking care of all of the calves; they come to me when they are about 6 months old and I take care of them until they are about ready to give birth. We really build friendships with these animals, so I love that I’ve learned to document them!

Another picture that I like is one I took at a local park. I sat the camera on a fence and pointed the lens up into a tree as the sun was coming through the branches of the tree.

One last picture I like was one I took of the sky—it changes in a blink of an eye. We live on a hill and we get great sunsets from here.

I am so grateful to Pablove Shutterbugs and the LIVESTRONG Foundation for offering this class to me and making a difference in my life.

– Dustin, Pablove Shutterbugs student, Akron 2014

You can support more Pablove Shutterbugs like Dustin at 25waystopablove.org

Want to read more?
Read Phillip’s story – “An anchor in a foggy landscape”
Read Zuly and Antonella’s story – “Finding normal through a camera lens”
Read Marcy’s story – “Today, I am happy”

Top photo by Ben Miller for The Pablove Foundation
All other photos by Dustin, Pablove Shutterbug student