Hook, Peter, & Wendy | Alison Hatch Photo
“I don’t want to grow up. I want to be a kid.” I watched Peter Pan say to Wendy Moira Angela Darling as I sat in the audience of a local production of Peter Pan.
My son, Keegan was Captain Hook in this local production of Peter Pan. (He absolutely stole the show BTW. I know I’m biased but it’s true.)
Captain Hook is the adult Pan who never wants to grow up in the well-known play “Peter Pan.” Captain Hook is a miserable old man who is jealous of Peter—a boy who is carefree and happy, never worrying about anything. Hook is always stressed about the pressures of the Croocidile wanting more of him after he had a tasty bite of Hook’s hand. Peter is always under threat of Captain Hook’s desire to end the boys life but it doesn’t feel real, just a game.
The bridge between these two characters is Wendy, a young girl who plays the adult and wants nothing more than to grow up.
Unlike Peter, growing up can’t be stopped. Childhood can’t be frozen in time no matter how much us parents want it too for our children. And lately, I have really, really wanted it too for mine.
Keegan is a Senior. He is already working part-time, out of the house for his acting most nights, and hanging with friends the others. He basically has one foot out the door. (Can you hear my heart breaking, cuz it is.)
All of my boys are adopted. Keegan was a newborn when he came to our home. To help with the bonding process I would read to him as I rocked him. One of the books I read to him was the original classic story “Peter Pan.”
It feels very serendipitous that this story has bookended his childhood. This poetic and painful view from the audience- being the mother who watches as he grows up.
Keegan was so a Peter Pan kind of child. Incredibly imaginative and loved being a kid, never wanting to grow up. It took a long time but recently he has become the Wendy, realizing that growing up is a wonderful thing that happens to us all.
I hope he never becomes the Captain Hook of the story, but a version of him who can look back at his childhood with fondness because he is content with his adutl life in the present.
Reader, what stage are your kids in; Peter, Wendy, or a little bit Hook? Each stage of a child’s (and adult’s for that matter) should be honored and loved.
If you are here it is because you know that the work I do is to cherish the present moment and try as I might, to freeze time with a photograph. It isn’t the perfect solution to our Pans growing up, but it is a small piece of them I can give you to hold dear as they transition into the next character of the story.
Hi, I’m Alison
an analog film photographer, educator, podcast host, and artist. I offer my Albuquerque and San Diego clients a stress-free and memorable experience of getting photos taken. I have been featured in Shoot It With Film, 35 mm, Heartful Magazine, and published in the Front Steps Project Book. Right now I split my time between Albuquerque, NM, and North County San Diego, CA with my husband, three boys, and two Goldendoodles.
