“The picture we waited 30 years to complete.” Chris Bray is quoted in a Yahoo News article about side-by-side snaps of he and his Dad waiting for the first and the last shuttle missions to launch.
Chris and Kenneth Bray, STS1 to STS135
The photo has been viewed on Flickr over 500,000 times. “The Brays’ photo touched a chord of nostalgia in many rocket enthusiasts… melding of the personal with the historical.” And further Chris says, “The picture had a lot of significance for me and my father, but we didn’t expect that the photo would touch so many other people.”
This is the meaning, the chord of nostalgia, the music of the history, between a father and his son or daughter. There is nothing more important in a child’s life than maintaining a relationship with both parents.
For those of us who have been cut off because of divorce, separation, and unrequited animosity, the 30 year photographs are usually ones of bittersweet reunion. With all that time in-between lost to history without even a song.
Chris and his Dad are among the lucky ones who got to spend a lifetime sharing their love of the space program. “The moment has stayed with me since that day, and is one of my fondest memories and childhood experiences.”
Though my kids are nearly grown, it is never too late to hope that they will hear, within themselves, the truth about their Dad. Then, maybe, I’ll get a phone call and we can snap another photo.
