asking at the end of day

what did you see
today

and what did it
say?

And so i ask myself what these windows say to me? I decide they speak of aging and also of perception.They are old, boarded up, and what some may call “useless.” But on second look; uniquely beautiful.They remind me of something i have witnessed recently in my parents relationship. After 69 years of marriage Dad is still at home on the farm but mom is now living in a nursing home. One thing i have noticed about my parents relationship in the past year is it’s newfound sweetness. My father has become much more adept at voicing his love for mom and giving her compliments on her beauty. He has referred often to how beautiful she was to him in their youth.  And how beautiful she remains in his eyes. After all these years he is learning to communicate that fact to her in words as well as actions. It is wonderful to witness. The following quote seems to fit so well.

"Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl.

An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become.

A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be.

But a great artist, a master, can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is....and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be....

and more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, or even you, see that this lovely young girl is still alive,not old and ugly at all, but simply prisoned inside her ruined body.  He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart....no matter what the merciless hours have done to her.  ~Robert Heinlein

Dad has become a master artist.

I'm practicing and hope to be one someday too.