In Memory…

Is there a person in your life who has had a profound impact on your life but you never got around to telling him or her about it? That was my situation today.

I received word today that a cousin of mine, Don Brueske, had passed away in Minnesota on Friday, December 18th. A cousin I had not seen for several years.

But he was not “just” a cousin, he was a cousin who had a profound impact in my life on how I lived it and how I viewed it during my entire existence here on earth.

The sad thing was that I never really told him that. Oh, I had the chance, many chances, but never really told him. He knew he was responsible for my love of photography, but that was about it.

If you have visited my website and read “About the Artist” you have read a small bit about the night I watched my cousin Don make enlargements in a make shift darkroom upstairs in his parents farm house in rural Plainview, MN. I was probably 13-14 at the time.

I watched in awe and amazement as he made magical black & white enlargements. I saw them come to life in a tray under a dim red safe light.

My life was changed forever that night!

Two or three years later he sent me a letter indicating he was going to college and offered to sell me his darkroom equipment. I purchased it.

Now, nearly 60 years later, there is still nothing that compares to the same excitment and magic of seeing a great photograph come to life in the darkroom under a dim red safe light right before your eyes.

The sadness I have today is that I never shared with Don the wonderful gift he gave me. A gift that has been with me nearly every day for 60 years. A gift that has impacted my very existence, a gift that I can still share with others. A gift he never really knew he gave me.

Today, I would like his children and his grandchildren to know that their father and their grandfather was a very special person in my life, although it is too late for me to tell him personally.

My message to all of you this holiday season is that if you have some out there who has give you a special gift, tell them now…thank them for the gift they have given you. Make them aware of their impact on your life. Don’t wait until it is too late…like I did…..