A New Lens On Life | VA West Palm Seaside Health Care

For 92-year-old Army Veteran Ron Singer, pictures shouldn’t be merely a pastime. It is, as he put it, “life.”

Photography has adopted Singer — affectionately referred to as “Grumpy” — for many of his life, from his navy service and civilian work to his present residence within the Thomas H. Corey VA Medical Center’s Community Living Center.

It has additionally given him a approach to “capture the moments you don’t always remember,” mentioned Singer.

So when his DSLR digicam stopped working, shedding it meant greater than shedding a bit of kit.

Singer wheeled into the medical heart’s Communications workplace with the digicam in hand and requested Medical Media Section Chief Hunter Gordian for assist fixing it.

Gordian tried.

The digicam was cleaned. The lens, battery and different parts had been checked. It turned clear the getting old digicam had reached the tip of its usable life.

Photography by way of the years

Singer recalled proudly owning a number of cameras through the years — at one level, he owned 4 completely different cameras whereas working as a civilian for the Air Force in Greenland. Some of the locations and scenes he photographed there stay vivid in his reminiscence immediately. 

He labored with an array {of professional} digicam tools by way of the years, together with medium-format programs and lengthy lenses. But DSLR cameras remained a continuing.

For Singer, pictures is therapeutic. It has continued to offer him a artistic outlet on the Community Living Center. He has been engaged on a collage of his images for his Elks Lodge and spoke about utilizing pictures to revisit locations, individuals, and experiences from all through his life.

While Singer’s pictures is his private pastime, it displays how purposeful activities can promote quality of life, connection, and continued engagement. Photography is in line with the sorts of structured, significant leisure actions utilized in recreation remedy. VA recreation remedy makes use of actions corresponding to artwork, music, motion and different leisure modalities to assist Veterans’ bodily, emotional, cognitive, religious and social well-being. 

An surprising connection

Knowing how a lot the digicam meant to him, Gordian contacted the Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) to see whether or not a alternative is perhaps out there by way of donations.

CDCE Chief Shawn Montgomery helped seek for a digicam. And then got here an unlikely connection.

Sandy Swafford, a consultant of the American Legion Auxiliary, had just lately been sorting by way of the belongings of her late husband, an Army Veteran, when she got here throughout his digicam.

She puzzled what she ought to do with it.

Soon afterward, she discovered about Singer — one other Army Veteran, one other photographer who all of the sudden discovered himself with no working digicam.

The reply appeared to current itself.

With Montgomery’s assist, Swafford visited Singer on the Community Living Center and stunned him with the digicam.

His astonishment rapidly became a smile.

Singer joked that Swafford was ruining his “Grumpy” popularity as the 2 laughed through the go to. Swafford additionally introduced him a consumer handbook and helped him get acquainted with the digicam.

Then Singer raised the digicam and took his first {photograph}.

His topic was Swafford.

The picture marked the start of one other chapter for a digicam that had already belonged to 1 Army Veteran and now belonged to a different.

Capturing what comes subsequent

For Singer, this new lens meant getting again to one thing that has helped him doc a lot of his life — and protect moments lengthy after they’ve handed.

While no digicam may restore each {photograph} he took or each detrimental misplaced to time, the 

donated digicam offers him the power to maintain creating new ones.

The story started with a Veteran wheeling into an workplace with a damaged digicam and asking for assist.

It ended with a digicam discovering a brand new residence, two Army Veterans related throughout generations, and “Grumpy” as soon as once more wanting on the world by way of a digicam lens.

To study extra about recreation remedy, communicate to a VA care supplier or go to VA’s Recreation Therapy webpage.