Hearts in Focus is a multi-media project that blends traditional memoir with photography and poetry, showing the dynamic and often slippery way that grief and healing show up in our lives.

Debbie Strong was in a deep numbing fog; no one could reach her. She would recall the morphine, the last words exchanged, the fire department honor guard at his memorial, and the military flag in her arms. Her husband had died. The memory played out like a carousel in her mind. She could not focus on small daily tasks; she knew she could not face this intense grief at home.  She needed unfamiliar people who did not know the pain she was experiencing.

That was when she started her grief-traveling journey with a camera in her hands. She was safe behind the lens, her refuge. It was the plastic bubble from pain and the start of healing the immense loss. Each person she encountered while traveling was part of the healing journey.