Just finished celebrating Christmas with the family yesterday, Thursday, December 25, 2008.  Christmas was spread out over a couple of weeks this year.  My sister could only come up the week before Christmas and my Grandmother who is 98 made  a trip to the hospital making things tricky.  All in all it was  a good time though.   Everyone got along well.   A few things about family.  My grandmother is the reason I went to photography school, and my parents are the reason I was able to stay in photography school, lord knows I did not have money saved and they were willing to take a chance on me once again.  I know they lost a lot of money sending me to HPU.  But I did worn them, "Im not ready for college, I want to take some time off, I do not even know what I want to do".  But like any normal parents would, they insisted on college.  So I went.  So I failed.  But I will talk of those days later.  I was a house framer from 1992 until 1996.  In 1995 my grandmother offered to pay for classes a Guilford Technical Community College.  She told me GTCC offered a one year Certificate in Photography after completing a one class a quarter photography program.  These classes just covered the basics.  She told me she had discussed this with my parents,  she would pay for classes at GTCC and if I did well, maybe they would pay for my schooling at Randolph Community College which came later.  You see Randolph Community College, in Asheboro, NC offered a two year program in photography in which one could get an associates degree in various fields of photography.  Little did I know just how prestigious the photography program was a RCC.   Bob Hiest had started the program from scratch in the late 60's.  I remember him saying it was just one classroom  when he started teaching photography at the school.  The program grew to be one of the top three photography schools in the United States,  and the biggest in the South East if I am remembering correctly.   I might be a little off on those last statements but no by much.   So I could not say no to going back to college.  It was a scary time for me though, I was never a good student, I had failed out of High Point Univesity in 1988.  I had spent summer in summer school for all those goddamned math classes in high school.  I still hate math to this day.  How was this going to be any different.  I had been calling in sick to work over the past six months so I could go shooting nature and abstract photography, I had to take a chance. Even if it meant failure in the classroom once again I had to take a chance.  Something about being behind the lens just felt right for me.  So on this Christmas I owe a huge thank you to my parents and grandmother.  Thank You!  Well todays post just sort of came out of me, I did not know what I was going to write but I guess it turned out to be a thank you letter.