Today was Walter Gretzky’s funeral. And we were reminded of the bond between he and son, Wayne. I never knew either of them personally but I don’t believe the kinship was any more special from any healthy father and son alliance. In the early years, an impressionable boy is steered by his dad’s encouragement, caring, and guidance. Values are formed. And Wayne benefitted. If he could have noticed, Wayne would have witnessed his dad learning to be a parent, just doing the best he could at the time. Little would Wayne know he was shaping his dad, too. And in later years, Wayne would find himself encouraging, caring and guiding his dad in life in ways he was years earlier.
When Dr. Suess said, “To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world”, perhaps he appreciated how interchangeable the feelings are between a father and son.
Over my career, I have photographed father and son combinations. Not many. Mostly as a family unit, or mother with daughters. I'm not sure why fathers don't get professionally photographed with their sons more often. Perhaps the candid phone pic on the golf course is "good enough." And that's fine. But think how much this portrait will appreciate in emotional value over the years of Matt M. and his son, Keegan, created in Tsawassen in 2011. It truly is a feeling Keegan will inherit. You can feel the bond between them, and how much one means to the other.
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