Two of the most powerful emotions people can experience are nostalgia and love.
Perhaps the sheer power of these emotions is part of the reason why the now-famous photos shared by Charles Brockman on Twitter had such a resoundingly positive reaction online.
Brockman uploaded two photos to Twitter in honor of his recent move-in day. One of the pictures showed Brockman’s father walking him to school on his first day of kindergarten, while the other showed Brockman’s father helping him move into his dorm as a freshman in college.
The pictures contrast kindergarten, a time many remember as blissful innocence, with freshman year of college, which is seen by some as a rite of passage into adulthood. They also showed the unbreakable bond between father and son.
Brockman said his father walking him to school became a tradition, although it started as a necessity. His elementary school was well within walking distance, and his father would accompany him there for his protection.
However, the first-day photoshoot became an instant tradition for the family, though they did not make a particularly big deal out of it. Brockman said the photos were typically taken quickly as his parents dropped him off at school each year.
“It always seemed kind of normal to me then, but now it makes me want to go back to when life was easier,” Brockman said.
For Brockman, the photos recall the huge amount of time he spent with his father.
“He was always helping me with track,” Brockman said, “He was practically my coach. My mom had a serious career that would make her travel a lot, so he was always home to take care of me.”
Brockman said the primary reason he posted the photos in the first place was because he wanted to thank his father and give him public recognition for all the things he had done.
Then, his tweet blew up in ways he never imagined would, or even could, happen. The tweet was covered by People magazine and the Today Show and now has over 70,000 retweets and 283,000 likes. 
Brockman said he was surprised at the response seen in the United States, but was even more astonished at the reactions overseas. One friend of his, a Swedish exchange student at his Texas high school, had seen references to his pictures all the way in Sweden.
This may be Brockman’s first experience receiving major media attention, but if all goes to plan, it will hardly be his last. Brockman is a communications major with an emphasis in broadcasting and aims to work in television. 
Brockman said he is not particular about where he will work after he graduates, but that ideally, he would like to work on sports stories, as he is already rather familiar with sports and enjoys them immensely.
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this article can only describe so much.
Contact Rob Merrell at [email protected] follow him on Twitter.

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Brockman's father continued the tradition by helping his son move to Mississippi State.