Born in Philadelphia in December 1949, Kathy grew up surrounded by her “Leave it to Beaver” close knit family, with four sisters and one brother. She remembers a 3rd grade assignment about Philadelphia, and she wanted to buy a bunch of postcards to illustrate her paper. Instead, her Dad gave her his camera, and took her to photograph all the places she was going to write about.

Talk about planting a seed!

She was an ok student, but excelled at typing and stenography. The logical career choice was secretary . And she loved it, but wanted a bit more.

Kathy earned her Associates Degree in Business at 40. She loved taking photos of her son and daughter, and when her first grandson was born, she often created portraits of him, and of children of friends. Her husband, Rich, suggested she quit her secretarial work and go into photography, so she took classes at the local college and started things up.

Her business took off pretty well, and her schedule was fully booked, when she developed pneumonia. Shortly after that, she developed severe back pains, and broke her collarbone while picking up her little dog.

Her trip to the doctors led to a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, a type of blood cancer. The doctors told her there was no cure, but assured her, ‘there is treatment’. Her Photography business was put on hold while Kathy spent the next three years with stem cell transplants, chemo and other treatments.

Kathy finished treatment and resumed her photography career, with portraits of children, dogs and of course her own children and grandchildren.

Although, in her words, “I couldn’t even say my name on stage” Kathy knew she had a message of hope for cancer patients facing long treatments. She joined Toastmasters to learn how be a better speaker, and began to address groups: From Rotary clubs, to doctors, caregivers and patients, practically everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. Using slides made it easier, so naturally she included photographs, including humorous photos of dogs to show side effects as temporary, and even funny.

I met Kathy when she was speaking at the Virginia Professional Photographers convention we were both attending. As a fellow photographer and cancer survivor, we had two major connections and have been fast friends ever since.

Another photographer friend suggested she turn her talk into a book, and she did.

“Cancer is Ruff”, a great light hearted gift for those in the middle of their own cancer fight, has sold almost 3000 copies to date, and is available from www.kathykupka.com and on Amazon.

Kathy has loved her photography career, and discovered a special affinity for photographing dogs. She has earned her Photographic Craftsman degree, awards for Best Portrait of a Man and Best Portrait of a Pet and has just earned her Master Photographer degree at 75!

Ten years after the death of her husband, Kathy was convinced to try online dating. It was a hilarious failure, and the stories she told us were delightful. Janine suggested another book about online dating.

As Kathy neared the end of her online dating subscription, she told us this was it. She would go on the final date for ‘research’ to finish the new book, “Online Dating is Ruff.” Much to her surprise and delight. she and Bob hit it off, and have been together for five years so far.

Kathy’s advice, don’t worry about what other people think. It’s never too late to go after what you want. Love can always show up.