The hand we were dealt? A pair of fours.

nd you thought YOU had to wait a long time?

Stewart Photography seniors are learning the old adage of "Quality Takes Time," more than ever this year as the area's longest sessions have gotten longer... the most pre-order artwork has gotten even more extensive, and the wait is substantial... the promise is given:  It will be worth the wait.

Of all the seniors that have had to wait... NO one... I mean NO one has waited longer from start to finish, than Zach Rubenbauer of East Marshall.

His original session was June 26... nearly THREE months ago. 

Makes two, three... or even FOUR weeks seem pretty short, doesn't it?

To be fair... Mr. Rubenbauer ran into some unusual circumstances.  Mainly that his football team's new uniforms weren't delivered yet back in late June.  And when they WERE delivered... some how his number hadn't been ordered.

Which is kinda of a big deal.

Anyone who's played football at any level knows that your FOOTBALL number MEANS something.  It's your favorite number... a symbol of who you are... the number your father wore... the digits the player you most admired adorned.

Experience tells me that most players have a REASON for wearing what they wear.

Zach wears number 4.

Which just so happens to be his photographer's favorite number.

Sure, on the surface... it may mean nothing to most outsiders... but when I told Zach that I used to wear the number... he beamed... Then smiled a wry smile and said with a wink, "Fours are studs."

Eighty pounds ago, and now three slow steps (at least) behind my prime... I remembered a time when I used to be able to run like the wind like Zach Rubenbauer can run now, and it allowed me to nod in agreement and it then became a permanent bond...  a club... a fellowship.   The brotherhood of number fours.

Make fun of it if you'd like.  But it was real... Very real.

So, I didn't need asked twice when Mama Deb asked me if we could schedule a second half to Zach's session to accommodate for the eventual delivery of the new Nike #4.  It was a done deal...

In the meantime... we did have to take care of the first half of Zach's senior experience with Stewart Photography... and it kinda got off to a rough start.

He has asked if I could photograph the sunrise for him back in June... so there I was... at the Rubenbauers prior to 5:30 a.m.... and ready to position ourselves for the glorious peek over the horizon in front of the family pond.

Except for one problem.

It was cloudy.

So we didn't get the sunrise, but with the help of mother Deb, girlfriend Gabee and a healthy dose of taking advantage of the hand we were dealt, we used the time wisely and figured that we had to get the football stuff done later anyway... so we'd take another crack at Mr. Sun at that later date.

That later date finally rolled around a couple of weeks ago at the end of August... and, hallelujah, the skies cooperated this go around.  The #4 had been delivered and all of Zach's requests were fulfilled.

The dude had a ton of special requests, but since we were 4-brothers... I didn't bat an eye.  So from the Tebow/Philippians 4:13 to the Nike ad to the weightroom to the sports collage to the My Moment ad to the resurrection water burst... it didn't matter.   Zach asked his partner in 4-crime to deliver, and I had no choice to but to come through... just like #4's do.

We finished the second session that late August day and we were going through our pricing and final salutations and thank yous.  I informed Zach and his mother that it was going to be at least a three week  delay and Zach looked at me and asked that if there were anyway I could have the images done prior to Homecoming... that it would mean a lot to him

It was about three weeks away and I figured it would be no problem.  The work has continued to pile up... the sessions and art have gotten even LONGER and suddenly Homecoming week was upon us.   I knew what his motivation was... and I understood.

For you see... a couple of decades ago... the woman I'm now married to and I went through a similar separation that age difference and leaving for college creates.  I left for college... she was back home... it wasn't easy.   Zach and young Gabee  are dong the same thing as we speak... only their divide is one that spans a half a continent.   Gabrielle returns tomorrow to be in place for the next night as she prepares to end her reign as East Marshall's homecoming queen when she crowns the 2013 version at the Homecoming pep rally Thursday night.   Zach hoped that his senior preview book would somehow be ready so that he could share his images with his girl on this special weekend.

Promise kept, my man.   Promise kept.

#4forlife