Loving through the lens

By Nicole DeCosta

The West Linn Tidings, Aug 2, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

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Remembering Douglas

A native Oregonian, Bransom’s film career moved his family to Erie, Penn., years ago where he produced a weekly television show. That’s where Douglas was born. He was a “surprise,” Bransom said, as he and his wife were in their 40s with older children.

And Douglas surprised everyone around him in his short life. His love for dinosaurs and trains and compassion for others amazed his family.

“Douglas was a peacekeeper,” Bransom said. “After his death we got several letters from parents saying, ‘our son was really struggling when he came into first grade and wasn’t making friends. And one day he came home and said, I have a new friend. His name is Douglas.’”

Douglas was a frequent visitor to West Linn High School events and was crown bearer for the 2006 May Day event, just weeks before he died.

Pacific West Bank in West Linn began the Douglas Bransom Memorial Scholarship Fund in 2006, awarding a $6,000 gift each year to West Linn High School students who showed strength academically, well-rounded school involvement, compassion for others and community outreach, Bransom said.

A wall within the library at Willamette Primary is set to become a 3-D reading nook in the shape of a dinosaur and called “Douglasaurus,” after Douglas. A neighborhood park in West Linn is planned with the name Douglas Park, Bransom said.

The end of Train Master will remind viewers of the importance of always looking in front of and behind a vehicle before moving it.

Focusing on the

good times

Kids and Cars is an organization dedicated to informing the public of the dangers children face if left unattended in or around motor vehicles. The groups’ Web site keeps a national database tracking death and injuries to children left unattended around motor vehicles. Since the middle of July this year, 117 kids have been killed in non-traffic incidents on private property in the U.S.

“Obviously it reeks havoc on both families,” Bransom said.

Bransom said he’s kept in touch with the driver that ran over Douglas; the man has become involved with the development of camera systems in the front and backs of vehicles.

Within the credits of “Train Master,” Bransom said he will provide information about frontovers as well as some footage of Douglas.

“You’re not guaranteed tomorrow,” Bransom said of what he’s learned over the past year. “Don’t leave with anger and not having said I love you one more time.”

Bransom keeps a Web site filled with filming and family photographs, Bible passages, a rendering of the Douglasaurus and notes to Douglas written in sand.

As the film’s final scenes are captured this weekend, Bransom said he is proud of the project, its message and his first stab at a full-length film. He said his family remains positive, but they miss Douglas.

“We call it our new normal. Our life is never going to be normal, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad; it’s our new normal,” Bransom said.

Douglas will remain a focus in the film, a large part of Bransom’s spiritual journey and a light in the West Linn community.

He said their West Linn home is still filled with train memorabilia their son collected.

The photo of Douglas on the back of the binder depicts a happy kid – surrounded by trains and wearing dinosaur pajamas, just as Bransom remembers him.

“(Douglas) came unexpectedly,” Bransom said, “and he left unexpectedly.”

For more information about Phil Bransom, write him an email at phil@philbransom.com or call him at 503-803-8105.

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