Against every possible probability, my parents celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. This picture, taken by my wife, would represent the latest family portrait. As you see, Mom is pretty far along her journey with Dr. Alzheimer.
The occasion was a reunion of the wedding party, mostly, which was special for all of us. As it happens, I wasn't invited to that wedding fifty years ago, but I did arrive close enough to their first anniversary.
Every time we visit my parents, I figure it's the most bitter-sweet thing I've done in my life. The Japanese have a word for it: mono-no-aware. Our last visit has eclipsed all others in affect the way the moon eclipses the sun. It's so draining to keep doing this, but it would be worse if we did not.
This picture doesn't really capture that emotion, but taking the picture was incredibly taxing. I'm still taking time to get back to normal. As an artist, I should be feeding off of these powerful emotions, but all I can really do is try to catalog them and hope my art doesn't fall apart. It nearly has. But in the end it won't, as long as I use my time wisely.
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