OTTAWA -- Twenty-eight years after the Ottawa sign along the highway helped celebrate his arrival into the world, an Ottawa man continued the tradition.
Alex Gittens posted a photo of himself online this week holding a +1 sign next to an ‘Ottawa: Population 1,000,000” sign on King Edward Avenue. The photo celebrated the birth of his son Teo Cha-Gittens.
In 1992, when Alex was born, his father Simon Gittens posed for a similar photo at the Ottawa sign on Highway 417 east of the city.
Simon Gittens tells CTV News Ottawa he was looking for a unique way to celebrate the birth of Alex back in 1992.
"I wanted to capture it. As a dad during the whole pregnancy thing there's not a lot you can really do, so I wanted to do something and I wanted to capture the moment," said Simon Gittens.
He says a sign making company next to his office made the "+1" sign, and his buddy drove out with him to the Ottawa sign.
"I'm standing on the top of my jeep, the picture got taken and put in a photo album and there it stayed for 25 years or more until Alex found it and the rest is history," said Simon Gittens.
Alex Gittens says he saw the photo for the first time 10 years ago.
"I was waiting, waiting, waiting, and then when my wife told me she was pregnant, it was the first thing that came to mind – yes, this I have to do," said Alex Gittens.
The photo of Alex and Simon Gittens standing at the Ottawa sign to celebrate the arrival of a new family member 28 years apart has become popular online.
"When I shared it online, and I thought it was just going to be a feel good moment, just share it online. It just started getting more and more and more likes," said Alex Gittens.
Simon Gittens adds: "It's now a family tradition."
