I celebrate my 54th birthday today blessed with more gifts than I deserve. I have shared half my life with a woman I continue to love dearly. Our three children have made us very proud, each in their own way. I have enjoyed good fortune in my career and I am still, plus or minus a pulled calf muscle, playing soccer. Some people do not know how lucky they are. I DO.

Jeanine and I started the day at Maya’s soccer game. It was an exciting match despite the 0-0 tie and Maya was in fine form. She made a very impressive run up the center of the field beating several defenders before laying off a perfect pass to a forward who almost scored. During halftime another parent shared his copy of the Boston Globe with me. There was a picture of Nicolai on the front page and an in depth article about his recent soccer exploits (I will post the entire article tomorrow). Most importantly, it included details of today’s Kicks for Cancer fundraiser which is taking place at the high school. The Kicks for Cancer event is held annually in memory of Concord resident Lois Wells, who passed away in 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. Last year the team raised more than $28,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to support women’s cancer research. This year I was asked to photograph the event and was happy to volunteer.

Each player on the six participating teams wore a special jersey carrying the name of a loved one who had battled with cancer. Normally, when shooting a soccer match I try to capture images which include the athlete’s face. For this event, I prefer to shoot ones which capture the names on the back of jerseys.

Nicolai’s middle name is Laurent, so named for his grandfather, who he chose to honor on this occasion.

When he participated in Kicks for Cancer as a junior, Kyle, our first soccer star, dedicated his play to the memory of his grandmother, Eunice. That match produced one of my favorite photos of Kyle playing soccer.