JILL TOYOSHIBA

For Al (Ho Hopa) Midkiff, a Lakota, much of his spirituality comes from nature.

Tomas Young, a paralyzed Iraq vet who became an outspoken critic against the war is in hospice. He has chosen to stop nourishment and water. One of his last acts was to issue an open letter accusing Bush and Cheney of war crimes. Claudia Cuellar, Young's wife and caregiver, sits with him.

Kathy Berry is the widow of David Berry, a member of a unit of the 161st Field Artillery in the Kansas National Guard. David was driving south of Baghdad when an IED exploded and killed him and injured several others in his unit in 2007.

Killian Becker holds a photo of his older brother, Sebastian Becker, a 21-year-old who lost control of his car while speeding on a familiar road and died. Killian is sits near the tree his brother struck.

Nelson Hopkins issued a public apology for his attempted robbery. After spending some time in jail, Hopkins was on track to turning his life around and trying to inspire others to do the same, when tragedy struck. His son was shot near Rockhurst University; later Hopkins was arrested for robbing a Blue Springs pizza restaurant. He holds a booklet of poems by his son, Nelson Jr.

Odessa Brown, imprisoned for a 1995 Kansas City homicide, got away with another murder for 16 years until she decided to confess.

"For the Vietnamese Catholic, America is complicated," said Sister Marguerite Tran, who considers herself a bridge for Vietnamese immigrants. Her convent's order, Congregation of Mary, Queen, originated in Vietnam in 1670.

Blake Piatczyc, 17, dancer, choreographer and dance instructor.

Singer/songwriter Kirsten Paludan.

Sara Brenner, assistant manager at the Cellar Rat said an important element of a party, besides the people, is the wine.

First Friday fashion at the Crossroads Arts District. Micki Krzesinski (left) and Alexis Beck, 17-year-old friends stopped for a photo.

Dan Magnin has created a family history gallery on the walls of his staircase. Magnin's baby photo (left) used to hang in his childhood home.

Magician Devin Henderson.

Michael Sull was the official calligrapher for President Ronald Reagan.

Richard Lawrence Miller is writing a four-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. He is on volume three, but has Parkinson's disease and wonders if he will finish.

Myra Taylor (center), Kansas City jazz icon and one of the Wild Women of Kansas City, just before her 92nd birthday. Taylor died in 2011 at 94.

Rev. Sam Mann recently retired after about 40 years as pastor of St. Mark Union Church. He's photographed with 3-year-olds from the St. Mark Child & Family Development Center.

Stefan Fatsis wrote about the subculture of Scrabble fanatics in "Word Freak."

Chakaia Booker uses found rubber - primarily from bikes, cars and farm equipment - to form sculptures.

Carl Glorioso was crowned Miss Gay Missouri 2006. The female impersonator transforms himself into Victoria DePaula, an emcee at Missie B's.

Brie Miller, 26, owes $149,000 in student loans and has deferred them by taking a community college class - but interest is still mounting. Miller works as a public servant and earns $13 per hour.

Odie Curry of Kansas City has been waiting a year for a wheelchair ramp. When he needs to leave the home, his daughter said it takes two men to carry him down the steps.

Republican strategist Jeff Roe is founder and CEO of Axiom Strategies.

Yohannan Hunter goes by "Yo." Yo has been a member of the East Wind commune for 28 years. East Wind, called an "intentional community" by its residents, began in 1974 in southern Missouri.

Geneva Morris of Kansas City, 92.

Braydon Nichols, 10, holds an album with his dad, Bryan Nichols, on the cover. Braydon wrote a letter to CNN asking them to feature his dad, a U.S. Army pilot who died in a Chinook helicopter along with Navy SEALS. Brayden's mom Jessica Nichols is at right.

Ronetta Parks had a "dating makeover" as part of a series on dating.

Missouri basketball players Jabari Brown (from left), Earnest Ross and Jordan Clarkson, 2013-2014 season.

Pitcher Daniel Edwards, a senior at Kansas State University, passed on the draft to return for his final year in college (2008).

Peter Vermes, manager and sporting director of Sporting Kansas City. Vermes is the longest-tenured head coach in MLS.

Hank Young has been the official photographer for the Kansas City Chiefs for nearly 40 years.

Artist Alison Miller, with her work "Head Shots No. 8," focuses on the body's possibilities by isolating parts of it.

During a big snowstorm, Jason Johnston left his south Overland Park workplace and spent nearly nine hours in his car to get to his home in Excelsior Springs.

Latasha Davis said she has fond memories of her brother Jermaine, who always looked out for his younger siblings. Jermaine is serving a life sentence for killing his boss in a restaurant robbery.

Stowers Institute scientists Peter and Diana Baumann are committed to living as sustainably as possible.

Jim and Frances Denio first met in 1941 but didn't marry until she was 70 and he was 84. "It feels good to have someone lying in bed next to me each night," Jim says, "someone I can reach over and touch."

The Fink grandchildren kept cool by playing in a stock tank at Lee and Cindy Fink's Monument, Kansas, family farm.