Story behind a wonderful image
This story and image came from a contact to my email and I was touched by the moment that was captured, and the story within the image.
I have copied the article in it's entirety from The Journal Times.com.
Capturing the moment
Front page photo caught couple’s goodbye
By Bridget Thoreson
Journal Times
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 9:34 PM CST
RACINE — An everyday scene suddenly became extraordinary Tuesday morning.
Don Kilpatrick had just brought in his copy of The Journal Times.
“He was in the kitchen and I heard this very loud ‘Oh my God,’ and I said ‘What is it?’” said his wife, Olga Kilpatrick. “And he says, ‘Fletcher and Heidi are on the front page.’”
Of course, seeing a picture of your son embracing his girlfriend as a front page photo would be special under any circumstances. But what made this especially memorable was that Fletcher Kilpatrick was bidding her goodbye before he left for basic training.
Fletcher Kilpatrick and Heidi Gabbey embrace in the photo that ran on the front page of The Journal Times on Tuesday. Kilpatrick left Tuesday to begin basic training in the U.S. Navy.
His mother woke him up to tell him the news. “I was not expecting it at all. I was taken totally by surprise,” Fletcher said. “I love the picture. It really captured one of my last great memories before I left for basic.”
Heidi Gabbey, 18, also said she loves the photo of her with Fletcher.
“It means a lot,” she said. “The picture just captures the whole, complete moment with him going away and just the peacefulness of it.”
Fletcher, 19, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July after graduating from Horlick High School, and is starting eight weeks of basic training today.
“I’m happy and sad at the same time. I’m happy that he’s made the decision, the commitment to do something with his life,” Don said. “I’m sad that he’s gone and will no longer be a part of my life in the sense he is today.”
His mother told him that the picture was a gift.
“Of all the moments you have in your life, those private, important, monumental moments that you remember, they so rarely are captured,” she said. “This is a moment that will always be in your life, no matter what your future, where it leads you.”
The Kilpatricks intend to order a copy of the photo, get it printed on high-quality paper, frame it and hang it in Fletcher’s room for when he comes home.
And, while en route to Milwaukee in the first leg of his two-day trip on Tuesday, Fletcher wanted to send a message to his loved ones:
“Tell my family that I’m going to miss them more than anything and I hope they’re proud of me for the choice I made,” he said. “And this one’s for Heidi, tell her that I love her very much, she’s one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life and I’ll be back in her arms soon.”
I have copied the article in it's entirety from The Journal Times.com.
Capturing the moment
Front page photo caught couple’s goodbye
By Bridget Thoreson
Journal Times
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 9:34 PM CST
RACINE — An everyday scene suddenly became extraordinary Tuesday morning.
Don Kilpatrick had just brought in his copy of The Journal Times.
“He was in the kitchen and I heard this very loud ‘Oh my God,’ and I said ‘What is it?’” said his wife, Olga Kilpatrick. “And he says, ‘Fletcher and Heidi are on the front page.’”
Of course, seeing a picture of your son embracing his girlfriend as a front page photo would be special under any circumstances. But what made this especially memorable was that Fletcher Kilpatrick was bidding her goodbye before he left for basic training.
Fletcher Kilpatrick and Heidi Gabbey embrace in the photo that ran on the front page of The Journal Times on Tuesday. Kilpatrick left Tuesday to begin basic training in the U.S. Navy.
His mother woke him up to tell him the news. “I was not expecting it at all. I was taken totally by surprise,” Fletcher said. “I love the picture. It really captured one of my last great memories before I left for basic.”
Heidi Gabbey, 18, also said she loves the photo of her with Fletcher.
“It means a lot,” she said. “The picture just captures the whole, complete moment with him going away and just the peacefulness of it.”
Fletcher, 19, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July after graduating from Horlick High School, and is starting eight weeks of basic training today.
“I’m happy and sad at the same time. I’m happy that he’s made the decision, the commitment to do something with his life,” Don said. “I’m sad that he’s gone and will no longer be a part of my life in the sense he is today.”
His mother told him that the picture was a gift.
“Of all the moments you have in your life, those private, important, monumental moments that you remember, they so rarely are captured,” she said. “This is a moment that will always be in your life, no matter what your future, where it leads you.”
The Kilpatricks intend to order a copy of the photo, get it printed on high-quality paper, frame it and hang it in Fletcher’s room for when he comes home.
And, while en route to Milwaukee in the first leg of his two-day trip on Tuesday, Fletcher wanted to send a message to his loved ones:
“Tell my family that I’m going to miss them more than anything and I hope they’re proud of me for the choice I made,” he said. “And this one’s for Heidi, tell her that I love her very much, she’s one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life and I’ll be back in her arms soon.”
Comments
crazy how it got around! :)