07/16/2026
Today would have been my dad’s 76th birthday.
He died in 1991 at just 40 years old.
After months of being misdiagnosed, we learned he had cancer and only six months left to live.
He grew up with very little, dropped out of high school, joined the Army, and built a life through hard work. He went from having almost nothing to owning his own business, Baron Construction. By the time he passed, he had accomplished what many would have thought impossible. His legacy lives on in more ways than one—including the family name that now lives on through Baron House.
I was only seven years old.
Years later, history felt like it was repeating itself.
My oldest sister, Carli, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the same age—40. By the time it was discovered, it was already Stage III. She fought with everything she had for two and a half years before she passed away in 2019 at 43, just shy of her 44th birthday.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss them both.
But there is something I am endlessly grateful for.
My mom saved the photographs.
Boxes and albums filled with moments that would have otherwise lived only in memory. Pictures of my dad holding us, family gatherings, birthdays, ordinary afternoons that became priceless after he was gone.
Those photographs are some of my most treasured possessions.
I think that’s why I picked up a camera so young—and why I’ve never really put it down.
Photography has never been just about creating beautiful images for me. It’s about preserving the people we love, the relationships that shape us, and the stories that deserve to be remembered long after we’re gone.
Because one day, a photograph may become someone’s favorite memory.
This is why B Philly exists—to tell stories that matter.
And it’s why Baron House exists—to create a place where those stories can be preserved for generations.
Dad. Carli.
Thank you for giving me a reason to pick up a camera... and an even bigger reason to never put it down.
