#Thirty Seconds

Yesterday we went to our son’s convocation, which means he received his PhD during a ceremony at The University of Manitoba, along with around 300 recipients of various other degrees. As proud parents we wanted to be there and witness that moment, which takes about a whole thirty seconds. That’s the exciting part for us, while the rest of the two hours the whole event takes is at best boring. It reminds me of when I go hunting. I sit in my deer stand for days sometimes waiting for those thirty seconds I have to shoot a deer when one finally appears. Sometimes no deer appear.

I wanted to catch those thirty seconds on camera. We sat quite far away so if I wanted to even recognize my son’s face on the picture I had to zoom in on it. Now, as everyone knows, when you zoom in on an object it is best to have a tripod. Of course, I couldn’t set up a tripod so I had to rely on my steady hand. I practiced with another recipient and the picture turned out okay. I was ready for my son to appear on the stage. When it was finally his turn to get his handshake and whatever else, I panicked a little, but I managed to find his face in the viewfinder and it looked clear. Just as I was about to push down the shutter release on the camera the guy in front of me moved his head and all I saw was a white shadow. I moved the camera to the right, which of course made it shaky. I got a blurry picture of my son walking away. The thirty seconds were gone.

When I turned to my wife, she had a few tears in her eyes and she said, “That was beautiful.”

I said, “What?”

“The whole ceremony,” she said. “And you didn’t even clap.”

“I was holding the camera, trying to get a picture,” I said.

“Did you get a nice one?”

“I would have had it not been for the guy’s head in front of us,” I said. “In fact, I missed the whole thing. Did anyone else clap?”

“Yes. A few people did.”

“Damn. I didn’t hear or see anything. That’s the last time I’m taking pictures. They never turn out anyway.”

“But it’s so nice to have pictures.”

“It is...if you manage to get some.”

I spent the next fifteen minutes or so zooming in on my son’s face as he sat on the stage with all the other new doctors. Most of the pictures were blurry but I got a couple that turned out okay. Later on we took pictures outside on the lawn. He looked so impressive wearing that hat with the tassel (it’s called a mortarboard) and the black and red robe. My wife and I were all choked up and so proud. Our son the doctor. His name now is Doctor Richard Grosshans.

When our granddaughter was christened my son gave me his movie camera and asked me to film everything. I was so busy and intent on filming and worried about it turning out okay, that I didn’t enjoy the christening. I had to watch the film later to actually see and experience it. Not the same. It’s not the first time I spoiled things for myself and maybe some day I’ll learn. I’m trying to get pictures at every Christmas concert from the kids and they never turn out. The lighting is always wrong and most of the time some huge guy with a big head wearing a baseball cap or some even bigger woman in a parka sits in front of me blocking my view. Next time I’ll go to a ceremony I’m going to leave the camera in the car.