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@deejay.gray

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Summer came and went too fast! ☀️🎉 Bday photos from celebrating Queen @photosamthesis’ birthday!! 😍🏖️🛥️

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cosplaying in fire island 👻

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This past Sunday we sat by my grandmother, my adoptive mother’s side and listened to the Blue Hawaii soundtrack with her for the final time. This was the movie my grandparents went to see on their first date. 63 years later and not 10 seconds after the record ended, “Elvis left the building”. Just 3 1/2 weeks after the love of her life, my grandfather. A beautiful bookend to their love story, that even the best authors couldn’t write.

Her childhood was full of “walking up hills both ways”. With 3 birth certificates and a father she never met - you could say things weren’t easy. Yet, in spite of it all, she was the kindest soul you ever met. She never spoke ill of anyone, always saying it wasn’t her place to judge. She was a shepard of gratitude and by far the most positive influence on how to find beauty in everything the world has to offer, even the most mundane.

With two college degrees, one in psychology from Radford, with another in marketing from University of Richmond - she became the first woman to win a Popai award for her company. A true trailblazer and just an overall classy lady.

After she retired, my grandparents hyper focused on community work - their calendar was always full. They started an Essential Tremors awareness group in support of Deejay, in which they held monthly meetings for years. On top of that, they were always volunteering their time and would donate what they could to help folks that needed it the most.

Now that my family and I are on the other side of this storm, it’s hard to feel anything but gratitude for having such an influential, loving person by my side to navigate the complexities of life.

I always thought dying of a broken heart was just an expression, little did I know I’d witness it first hand. Rest easy Nana 🌹

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Phil and Diana Campbell, my husband’s adoptive parents and grandparents, were together for 63 years. A true love story for the ages, these two got engaged after three dates - building a beautiful life together and making us all uniquely obsessed with bluegrass, feng shui, and numerology (long story short, everything equals 8 in their universe).

Though heartbreaking to experience, it’s true poetic justice that these two left this earthly plane within 3.5 weeks of one another. I am also just now realizing 3+5=8 as I type this… because of course.

Loss and grief know no strangers, and at some point we all experience this devastating twist of emotions; utter heartache and endless gratitude. They were such special people, and continue to mean so much to their family. I feel so lucky to have become a part of it over the last near decade.

When we began to go through all of their keepsakes and photos, it only felt right for me to archive the images to share with family near and far. We admired, laughed, cried, and simply marveled at the beautiful lives these two had individually and together. How special, that these things could bring us comfort and show how truly rich their worlds were.

Through every season of loss, I feel reminded of the simple fact that life is about cultivating joy with the people you love. Whether simple or elaborate, there’s beauty in absolutely everything if you take the time to be present and notice it. Nana and Gaga were great teachers of this.

Feeling incredibly thankful to have known and loved these two magical people ♥️

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summer photos 🌼

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Spent the last few days surrounded by family while we process the loss of my grandfather, my adopted father, Phil Campbell. We’ve looked through thousands of pictures and listened to all of his favorite bluegrass tunes. Telling stories, laughing and crying, and just feeling incredibly grateful to have someone who always cared so much for us in our lives.

He was a life long instrument collector and advocate for bluegrass and the sounds of Appalachia - I’m so lucky and proud to have grown up around him. He’s with out a doubt the reason for my obsession with music and the connection I feel towards the instruments that help create it.

If you ever met him, you heard one of his fishing stories. He was a bass master champion (or at least that’s what it said on one of the hats he wore all the time) but with a wall full of trophies, I guess we can give him that one. Honestly, the amount of pictures we’ve found of him holding a large bass with a grin ear to ear, he might of known a thing or two.

Professionally, he was a machinist who worked on hundreds of tools (inventions?) in which he’s listed on the patents. From the pop top can we all have in our homes to the camera they sent to the moon on the Apollo missions. Yeah he was a badass.

As a loving son, then husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, he always put his family first. Even if he had that 1950s tough love approach, there was never a doubt if you were loved. I think it’s safe to say my grandparents story is something special and almost unheard of, something out of a movie. They had 3 dates before he proposed, then they were married for 63 years. If this happened today, everyone would absolutely tell you that you’re out of your mind.

We’re always trying to find the time to be with the ones we love and if this week has taught me anything - you have to make the time before it’s too late.

There are few people that have had such a strong impact on my life as he did and while there’s never a good time for death, knowing he lived a fulfilling and happy life certainly lessens the blow. Thanks for everything, couldn’t have done it without ya.

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birthday party 👾

📸 @photochase_nyc

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Spring ‘26

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OutHudson Pride: Charlie and the Disco Factory 🍫 🪩

Grateful to everyone who helped make this year’s celebration so sweet! 🍭

📸 @jdurban_photography

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🍭 charlie and the disco factory 🪩🕺🏽

follow the lollipop 🍭 then watch again for the oompa loompa reaction

♥️

bush

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March and April! So much theater, only some of it captured here. Some other nice memories, too. Soon it will be too hot for me to leave the house again.

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