A person captured an image of their parents waving goodbye each time they left home after a visit. Over the span of 27 years, what began as a simple habit of taking a photo gradually turned into a story about time, family, and the sadness of saying goodbye…

The series concluded in 2017, when there was no one left to wave goodbye to the photographer.

This series, known as “Leaving and Waving” by Deanna Dikeman, tells a poignant story that has made many people recognize the importance of family.

For 27 years, Deanna Dikeman took photos of her parents waving goodbye as she drove away from their home in Sioux City, Iowa, after each visit. She snapped the first picture in 1991 and continued capturing this farewell scene every time she left. Initially, she didn’t intend to create a series; she simply took these photos to cope with the sadness of parting. Over time, it became their ritual of saying goodbye.

These photos are part of a larger collection Deanna calls “Relative Moments”, a project she began in 1986 to document the lives of her parents and other family members. When she looked back at the collection of “leaving and waving” images, she realized it told a story of family, aging, and the pain of farewells.

In 2009, there’s a photo where her father no longer appears—he had passed away shortly after his 91st birthday. Her mother continued to wave goodbye alone. In 2017, her mother moved into assisted living, and for a few months, Deanna photographed their goodbyes from her mother’s apartment door.

In October 2017, her mother passed away. After her funeral, Deanna took one last photo of the empty driveway. For the first time, there was no one left to wave goodbye.

You can see all these photos of Deanna Dikeman’s project on her online exihibitions, you can search “Leaving and Waving by Deanna Dikeman” on Google to get the result.