Rambling Rhodes

My Father's Voice My Dad

My Father's Voice

My Dad once told me that true art is beautiful, and it has a meaning, and it makes you pause. And, if it doesn't do all of that, it's nothing. That was years ago. Way back when I was in high school. Probably 14 years ago. Somewhere around then.

There's this picture that I keep taped on my desk, with common masking tape, a picture that was, I believe, an advertisement for an insurance company, a picture I tore out of TIME magazine over two years ago. I have no idea what the circumstances were when the picture was snapped, and I don't care. . . I still think it's wonderful.

I only hope this description does it justice:

A young woman, dressed in a snowflake pattern skirt extending to her knees, no shoes, and a gender-neutral white short-sleeved shirt, is cradling a young boy, perhaps three, who is totally content in her arms, despite their surroundings. Their surroundings? They're enveloped in either destruction or poverty. It's totally devastated, whatever it is. A hurricane? A tornado? General poverty? It doesn't matter. The real question, initially, is the relatioship between the two.

Her son? Her little brother? Again, it doesn't matter. They're curled together in an embrace on a one inch thick cushion pillow of "something" that looks dirty, but they don't care, because they're sleeping, despite the nasty apparent destruction around them.

But, there's love, pure, un-diluted love. A love so strong the girl in the picture would defend the frail youth in her arms to her death. You can tell all this from the picture, and I wish I could share it with you with a URL, but I can't.

Rest assured, it's a love I hope I one day feel. A love where I care nothing for myself, a love where the best of me comes through, even if it means my own death, and I don't care, so long as I know someone better than me survives. How will I know that? I just will. There's a picture on my wall that tells me so.

Posted by Ryan at September 4, 2002 11:56 PM