by TERRI GRUCA / KVUE.com
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kvue.com
Posted on May 24, 2010 at 2:39 PM
Updated
Monday, May 24 at 2:41 PM
Pictures help tell our life story. An Austin photographer has always believed that, but he also thinks they can power a movement to change lives and he’s doing it one breast cancer survivor at a time.
Photographer Bill Bastas felt he was living a picture perfect life, especially when he met Michelle.
"I thought where am I going to find a better woman on the planet?” remarked Bill. “And months later I asked her to marry me. That was in 1985."
Bill and Michelle did everything together for 23 years. They shared a passion for food. She loved to cook and they both enjoyed the end results. They were happy and healthy until 2005, when Michelle began to have back pain.
"We thought she had orthopedic problems in her back," said Bastas.
That pain turned out to be cancer, breast cancer, which by the time doctors found it, had already spread to her bones.
"It was way too late," said Bastas.
Six months later, Michelle was gone.
"This woman was a beautiful woman who smiled all the time," he said.
That image of his wife was something Bill wanted to remember. So he created a non-profit in her honor called The Smile Never Fades.
"Whenever you suffer a really tragic loss to someone you deeply loved you want to fight," he said.
He did what he knew best, taking pictures, only this time of breast cancer survivors. He documented their stories and began raising money.
"I think what Bill does is awesome because he's raising money for breast cancer survivors," said Mary Swanson.
Swanson just celebrated her sixth year of being cancer free.
"I'm a photographer and I love what I'm doing because I know what they're going through," said Bastas.
His books have raised $20,000 for Komen for the Cure and the Breast Cancer Resource Center. His fourth will honor breast cancer survivors and their pets.
For him, it’s all about making sure precious moments like these last a lifetime.
"Others have said she'd be very proud of me," said Bastas. "I hope she is."
Michelle was 52 when she died. Bastas said she didn’t make a habit of getting yearly mammograms, a message he would like to share with other women.
You can learn how to purchase one of the books Bastas has created or share your story here.
