# Thoughts On What Might Have Been



## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

It saddens me to realize I have more in common with my dad since he passed away than I ever had when he was alive.* Granted, he died when I was just 14.* It was very sudden.* I lost him just at that age when you start to see your father as more than just a father figure.* At that age he becomes more a guide and mentor as you transition from child to adult.*

Here are two major passions I now share with him that I didn't when he was alive.

Photography and classical music.

I developed (pun intended) an interest in photography in my early 20's.* At that time I was going to a lot of football (soccer) games and would take photographs of the action on the field.* But the images would never come out as I would see them through the viewfinder.* The players always appeared too far away, too small in the photographs.* So I bought a photography magazine one day, thinking it would help me figure out what I was doing wrong.* This had two effects.* First, I quickly realized I needed a better camera.* Second, a new passion was born.* I bought two cameras, a Praktika and a Canon.** Over the years I have taken hundreds of photographs, even several weddings.

Just like my dad.

Now, in my 40's, I have a passion for classical music.* This also happened by chance.* I often watch videos on YouTube.* I like to watch stuff from the past, comedy clips, TV shows etc.* For nostalgia, really.

One night I'd just watched something and saw a few links to Popular Classical Music videos.* I watched one on impulse.* Mainly out of curiousity to see how many I knew.* On watching that, two things struck me.* First, I actually knew every piece of music in that video.* Second, I really enjoyed listening to it!* So, after watching a few more I decided to delve into the music of each composer.* Everyone knows the popular stuff.* I wanted to see what else I was missing out on.* So the first night I began with Beethoven.* Then I moved on to Mozart.* Next I tried Tchaikovsky and the next night I delved into the music of Dvorak.

My passion quickly grew into obsession.* I listen to classical music every night.* I just can't get enough of it.

Today it struck me just how much I have in common with my dad.* It makes me happy to think how like him I've become.* He was a good man who brought me up right.* I had a wonderful childhood, full of love. He always listened to his music on with headphones on, I guess he wanted to hear it loud without disturbing anyone. So I never really heard the music as a child. Perhaps if I had I would have taken a liking to the music at an earlier age.

But it saddens me to think of what I've missed out on.* The conversations we could have had.* Listening to classical music together.* I like to think he's watching over me with pride at the man I've become.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Beautifully said David. I'm sure he is very proud.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Beautiful story. My dad was around a lot longer. Lost him when I was in my late 30s. I long now to share my music with him. He is the one who got me into classical music back in the 1970s by recommending that I get Beethoven's 3rd, 5th, and 6th. He too was a big photography buff and had me taking pictures when I was only ten. He gave me an old camera that you had to hand thread the film in a dark bag. It was a 2.25 square format. He was also really into the mechanical side of cars and so am I though I think he would, like me, shun the new cars as way too complicated with too much electronic baggage.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

This is a very touching story, David, and I thank you for sharing this with us. 

My dad and I were very close in our musical tastes. He (and mom) got me interested in classical music at a very early age. He was around until my early 40's. 

The day before he died I had performed an organ concert in my (then) church, and it was videotaped. I was told after the concert that he would most likely not survive through the next day. I made arrangements with the hospital to share that video with him that very evening. 

He and I spent our last moments together in music, just as it had begun when I was born.


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