Didnt' think I would - But I miss my son

Scott_Quier

As some may remember, my son graduated from The College of William and Mary and received a commission as a 2LT in the US Army about 3 1/2 years ago. He comes from a family who, for a couple of generates now (there's only been 3 generations of my family in the USA), have been amongst those who made the sacrifices to keep the people of our nation free. His grandfather, his uncle, and I have all earned the proud priviledge to say we have served in our nation's military.

He is now a 1LT and has been recently deployed to Iraq. If you had asked me at that time if I thought I would miss him, I would have looked at you, chuckled a little and denied the possibility. I would have been so WRONG! I miss him so terribly. As of a couple of days ago, we knew him to be safe and billeted in a relatively safe encampment.

This is Day 2 of my PAD, titled: I Miss Him

Nikolai

Scott_Quier wrote:

As some may remember, my son graduated from The College of William and Mary and received a commission as a 2LT in the US Army about 3 1/2 years ago. He comes from a family who, for a couple of generates now (there's only been 3 generations of my family in the USA), have been amongst those who made the sacrifices to keep the people of our nation free. His grandfather, his uncle, and I have all earned the proud priviledge to say we have served in our nation's military.

He is now a 1LT and has been recently deployed to Iraq. If you had asked me at that time if I thought I would miss him, I would have looked at you, chuckled a little and denied the possibility. I would have been so WRONG! I miss him so terribly. As of a couple of days ago, we knew him to be safe and billeted in a relatively safe encampment.

This is Day 2 of my PAD, titled: I Miss Him

Scott, I hear ya..:cry
Good SP!

heatherfeather

Scott-
Geesh (about the post) and thanks. I truly appreciate what both he and you sacrifice for us.
And your moody photo really captures your emotions well. Very nice.

(And as someone who has a little son that comes from such a lineage and will likely end up in the military in some way I so do not look forward to where you are right now.)

mdruiz

all i will say is Hooaah

Travis

Amazing how much you don't realize that you will miss someone until they are gone. I wish him a safe and speedy return. I can only imagine how much more that you will cherish that moment when you see him step foot on American soil and be home again.

As for capture, you probably didn't even need to write the explanation...

Elaine

Thank you for sharing this, Scott. Your words and the photo are very moving. Blessings to you and your family.

glennp

Scott,

Your photo is very moving and relays the emotions one feels.

Thank you for sharing your feelings and our country.

glenn

Flutist

Scott-

Your post in general did not affect me as much as that photo. My goodness, the emotion pouring from your face made me sit here starring at the monitor and cry for you. Wonderful capture! That needs to be sent somewhere to be printed for all to see. Magazine, newspaper something! There are many of us feeling the way you are in that photo and it really touched me!!!

angevin1

God Bless you!

And God speed for your sons safe return~

tom

photogmomma

I'm so sorry, Scott. I can't imagine having a child leave the home (mine are 3 and 5) and to have him go to Iraq. That's no fun.

Wonderful photo. Very moving!

JulieLawsonPhotography

The emotion is so huge in this picture. You can really feel how your heart aches for him. Great job on capturing this in print. I pray for a speedy and safe return for your son and God's comfort and peace for you and your family as you await his homecoming.

God Bless!!

Trevlan

Jesus christ Scott. You weren't kidding when you said you had a good idea brewing. Amazing. I'm going check out your PADs right now. I'm on a roll with mine!

saurora

Scott this shot truly stands on it's own. Your emotions come through loud and clear. Great shot and God bless and keep your son safe!

urbanaries

One of the most emotive pieces of work I've ever seen from you! I have to agree with the others that the photo stands on its own, great vision and execution. And my thoughts are with you, and your son, and your wife...I know having a loved one overseas is a sacrifice, too.

vintagemxr

I have to say that my heart sunk for a moment as I thought the dark mood of the picture -- the uniform hanging in the background -- indicated your son had not come home. I felt genuine relief when I read that he was gone but alive and well. If the purpose of a photo is to tell a story or create an emotion in the viewer you certainly succeeded with this one! I rate this as one of the most evocative images I have seen on DGrin so far.

And thank you to you and your family for your service to our nation and may God bring your son (and all the others) back home safely and quickly.

Doug

Scott_Quier

All (and there are so many of you) - Thank you so much for the kind words and prayers. I can't tell you how much that means to me.

As alluded to by Frank (Trevlan), I've been working on this concept for a couple or three days. I've been missing Matt something terrible and I was hoping that producing this piece would have something of a healing effect. Between creating the image, posting it, and receiving all the wonderfully warm wishes - it's worked. My heart is a little more calm today than it was yesterday afternoon. Thank you so much!

Travis wrote:

As for capture, you probably didn't even need to write the explanation...

Thanks Travis. As you can see below, I think I did right by including the story as some might have mis-understood that Matt is still safe rather than MIA/KIA.

Flutist wrote:

Scott-

Your post in general did not affect me as much as that photo. My goodness, the emotion pouring from your face made me sit here starring at the monitor and cry for you. Wonderful capture! That needs to be sent somewhere to be printed for all to see. Magazine, newspaper something! There are many of us feeling the way you are in that photo and it really touched me!!!

Shannon - I hope your cry was a good release for you. I've shed my share of tears over the course of the last couple of days. They helped a bit, but not as much as creating this image.

photogmomma wrote:

I'm so sorry, Scott. I can't imagine having a child leave the home (mine are 3 and 5) and to have him go to Iraq. That's no fun.

Wonderful photo. Very moving!

urbanaries wrote:

One of the most emotive pieces of work I've ever seen from you! I have to agree with the others that the photo stands on its own, great vision and execution. And my thoughts are with you, and your son, and your wife...I know having a loved one overseas is a sacrifice, too.

Andi and Lynne,

You two have been and continue to be my primary source of inspiration (ok, calm down - it's not that big a deal:D) and to receive these sort of comments from you ... well, the impact is very significant. I just can't tell you how much I appreciate the comments.

Finally, Andi, it's your 365 days of self portraits project (I'm not going to repeat the words of praise you've already received on that monster effort) that gave me the idea to start my PAD project which, in turn, gave birth to the concept executed above. So, It's all your fault!

JulieLawsonPhotography wrote:

The emotion is so huge in this picture. You can really feel how your heart aches for him. Great job on capturing this in print. I pray for a speedy and safe return for your son and God's comfort and peace for you and your family as you await his homecoming.

It warms my heart that you see this photo as successful. That I affected you in this manner is gravy for me - the purpose (see above) was a self-healing.

Trevlan wrote:

Jesus christ Scott. You weren't kidding when you said you had a good idea brewing. Amazing. I'm going check out your PADs right now. I'm on a roll with mine!

Thanks Frank! What you see in the photo was not quite how I had envisioned it - some small elements got changed during the creative process (though process might be giving too much credit to how the photo was created:D). But, I think it turned out quite well. I've been following your PAD as well.

vintagemxr wrote:

I have to say that my heart sunk for a moment as I thought the dark mood of the picture -- the uniform hanging in the background -- indicated your son had not come home. I felt genuine relief when I read that he was gone but alive and well. If the purpose of a photo is to tell a story or create an emotion in the viewer you certainly succeeded with this one! I rate this as one of the most evocative images I have seen on DGrin so far.

And thank you to you and your family for your service to our nation and may God bring your son (and all the others) back home safely and quickly.

Doug

Doug - it's just this reaction that I was afraid of and the reason that I posted the story behind the photo. And, thank you so much for the nice comment and, especially, for your prayer.

jeffreaux2

A very sobering image Scott.

I offer no critique...but certainly will offer my thanks, and of course my prayers that he will be returned to you not only in ship shape, but also in short order.

Thank you for sharing the photograph, and the story.....which in the manner you have captured yourself are really one and the same.

Richard

Scott,

I can only repeat what others have said: the image is truly fraught with emotion. Excellent work. I'm glad to hear that a little Dgrin therapy has been helpful. You have provided so much support to others here that we certainly owe you some support in return. Hoping for a safe and speedy return.

Regards,

bob swanson

AS you know there are many in our area that have the same laments. First of all THANKS to your son for his bravery and devotion to our country and secondly, thanks to you for co-creating such a conscientious son. Maybe, if his career direction allows, he might get posted at EUSTIS. Good luck, bsvirginian

Scott_Quier wrote:

As some may remember, my son graduated from The College of William and Mary and received a commission as a 2LT in the US Army about 3 1/2 years ago. He comes from a family who, for a couple of generates now (there's only been 3 generations of my family in the USA), have been amongst those who made the sacrifices to keep the people of our nation free. His grandfather, his uncle, and I have all earned the proud priviledge to say we have served in our nation's military.

He is now a 1LT and has been recently deployed to Iraq. If you had asked me at that time if I thought I would miss him, I would have looked at you, chuckled a little and denied the possibility. I would have been so WRONG! I miss him so terribly. As of a couple of days ago, we knew him to be safe and billeted in a relatively safe encampment.

This is Day 2 of my PAD, titled: I Miss Him

urbanaries

second time I've looked at this thread, and this image is still making me well up!

Our family never felt right when my brother was over there. Kudos to you for putting that feeling into your work. I'm still in awe!

Scott_Quier

jeffreaux2 wrote:

A very sobering image Scott.

I offer no critique...but certainly will offer my thanks, and of course my prayers that he will be returned to you not only in ship shape, but also in short order.

Thank you for sharing the photograph, and the story.....which in the manner you have captured yourself are really one and the same.

Hey Jeff! Critique - lot's of technical things "wrong" with this image, but each of the elements were planned and the result of the execution came out pretty much as I had envisioned it.

It pleases me that you can see the story told by the photo - I'm challenged that way!

Richard wrote:

I can only repeat what others have said: the image is truly fraught with emotion. Excellent work. I'm glad to hear that a little Dgrin therapy has been helpful. You have provided so much support to others here that we certainly owe you some support in return. Hoping for a safe and speedy return.

Richard - I offer my help where I can - because I've learned so much from so many here. I also post from time to time in another forum, but it's not home and this post is not going to appear there.

As for the safe and speedy return. He'll be home when he gets home and he'll be safe if he works smart - even as he takes the risks required of his position.

bob swanson wrote:

AS you know there are many in our area that have the same laments. First of all THANKS to your son for his bravery and devotion to our country and secondly, thanks to you for co-creating such a conscientious son. Maybe, if his career direction allows, he might get posted at EUSTIS. Good luck, bsvirginian

Thank you. As for Ft Eustis ... I think I would rather he get assigned to Ft Richardson (Anchorage AK). That would give us an good excuse to pack the house and move to the area in which I would much rather live.:D

Scott_Quier

urbanaries wrote:

second time I've looked at this thread, and this image is still making me well up!

Our family never felt right when my brother was over there. Kudos to you for putting that feeling into your work. I'm still in awe!

I had to capture the feeling - I had to get it out of me as it was tearing me apart. My work has really suffered the last 3 days because of it. Now, it's suffering because of the time I'm spending on DGrin:D

divamum

vintagemxr wrote:

I have to say that my heart sunk for a moment as I thought the dark mood of the picture -- the uniform hanging in the background -- indicated your son had not come home. I felt genuine relief when I read that he was gone but alive and well. If the purpose of a photo is to tell a story or create an emotion in the viewer you certainly succeeded with this one!

Exactly my reaction, too.

All the best to you and your family, Scott.

Wolftep

What a beautiful and moving photograph. It truly comes across with a lot of feeling. Well done Scott. My thoughts and prayers are with your son, you and your family, as well as all those serving our country.

jeffreaux2

Scott_Quier wrote:

Hey Jeff! Critique - lot's of technical things "wrong" with this image, but each of the elements were planned and the result of the execution came out pretty much as I had envisioned it.

It pleases me that you can see the story told by the photo - I'm challenged that way!

Well,

I'm sure you would agree with me that you are a very "technical" guy. This shows not only in your photography, but also in the "technical support" that you offer us all daily. In light of that, it would be very easy for YOU to be unerved a little by any percieved technical faults. That is the essence of any perfectionist...right? ...and you know that as a matter of personal tastes one could find faults in any image...that is no surprise....right?

...and I guess we could stare at this photograph long enough.....and surely start nitpicking it....as with any other.......but

in the case of this particular photograph...and others that we see that carry so much emotional depth...the deeper meaning....and the feelings the image evokes far outway any nit picky technical flaws that we might search out.

How can one say "wheres the beef"? when you have served us steak already!

Scott_Quier

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Well,

I'm sure you would agree with me that you are a very "technical" guy. This shows not only in your photography, but also in the "technical support" that you offer us all daily. In light of that, it would be very easy for YOU to be unerved a little by any percieved technical faults. That is the essence of any perfectionist...right? ...and you know that as a matter of personal tastes one could find faults in any image...that is no surprise....right?

...and I guess we could stare at this photograph long enough.....and surely start nitpicking it....as with any other.......but

in the case of this particular photograph...and others that we see that carry so much emotional depth...the deeper meaning....and the feelings the image evokes far outway any nit picky technical flaws that we might search out.

How can one say "wheres the beef"? when you have served us steak already!

Exactly right ... you hit the nail squarly on the head.

crmitche

Scott,
Thanks for your inspiration and insightful images. My son will be leaving to join the Air Force in 10 days to become a parajumper. I'm certain he and we will all be fine once we've become accustomed to the arrangement. He won't have much time to think about the changes. Mom, sister and I will have nothing but time. I've been wondering how to ease the transition and you've plopped it right into my lap. Thank you.

Craig

Scott_Quier

crmitche wrote:

Scott,
Thanks for your inspiration and insightful images. My son will be leaving to join the Air Force in 10 days to become a parajumper. I'm certain he and we will all be fine once we've become accustomed to the arrangement. He won't have much time to think about the changes. Mom, sister and I will have nothing but time. I've been wondering how to ease the transition and you've plopped it right into my lap. Thank you.

Craig

Here's something else to help ... for when/if your son gets deployment orders. Check out

http://www.oplove.org

I'm a member. We are a group of professional photographers who donate time, resources, and a selection of photographs to help ease the mind of deployed/returned service members (USAF, USN, USA, USMC, and USCG). Anyway, details are on the web-site above.

Edit: If you care to give to an organization that sending thousands and thousands of packages to the troops check them out at

http://www.opgratitude.com/

I've done a bit of research into them and they are a legit operation.

Flutist

I keep coming back to this and looking at that photo.

Flyinggina

Everything that I could say in response to your moving and very personal photograph has been said better by others. Those of us who have not had our children sent into harms way for the benefit of all of us at home can't begin to understand how difficult it must be for you and your family on many, many levels. But we can give all of you our thanks and prayers. Take care.

Virginia

PS - I, like so many others, have benefited greatly from your generous and useful technical advice. Thank you for that too.

Scott_Quier

Flutist wrote:

I keep coming back to this and looking at that photo.

You can come back as often as you feel the need. I'm so very happy it's moved you so.

Flyinggina wrote:

Everything that I could say in response to your moving and very personal photograph has been said better by others. Those of us who have not had our children sent into harms way for the benefit of all of us at home can't begin to understand how difficult it must be for you and your family on many, many levels. But we can give all of you our thanks and prayers. Take care.

Virginia

PS - I, like so many others, have benefited greatly from your generous and useful technical advice. Thank you for that too.

Leslie and I thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Oh, and the "technical advice" I offer is sometimes worth what you pay for it. Other times, even less Seriously, I'm glad to offer what help I can - the Lord knows I've received more than my fair share from others here.