The Forgotten Urban Face

I am mindful of the sorrow and utter dismay of growing older. I think that every one wants to leave a legacy that they have been here on this planet and have done something with their life. For the past few months I have been painting this piece. It has been hard for me. I would paint a while then I would set it to the side. Too be truthful it's not a pretty painting nor is it meant to be. It is emotional at best. Last year I was in Cincinnati and I took a picture of this building. Let me rephrase that. I stood on the top of a parking lot building in downtown Cincinnati and started shooting with my camera as I panned around. I was not really aiming just shooting randomly. I went back to the studio and hooked my camera up to my Mac, (I love my Mac) and uploaded the pics that I had taken. I went thru the pics and deleted the ones that were out of focus or were crap and then I came to this one picture that intrigued me. I cropped it and to my surprise, I found a face! It was a building that was art deco yet when I cropped it there was two eyes where there were circles a nose made from a molding and a mouth where the dental molding was. There was a strand of hair where the downspout was and it seemed sad because where the pigeons had crapped it had run down as if it were weeping.

I'm sure that during it's hay day this building was really something to look at, with it's moldings and dentals. Alas it had been forgotten, abandoned and left to rot. I think, if a building that has had an investment of thousands of dollars has been abandoned what about our own people? 

What is the worth of a soul? Do we only care for people when they can produce or be of value? My mother in law was a beautiful soul. She was from Iceland and was very aristocratic. She knew the worth of a diamond simply by looking at it. Yet, when she was killed in an accident by the actions of a driver that did a U-turn, State Farm said that she wasn't worth as much because of her age. Had she been younger she would have fetched a better price! Seriously? That is how we judge our elderly? 

The knowledge and wisdom that they have to offer are boundless. If you have a Grandfather or a Grandmother or if you know someone that is over the age of fifty take the time to listen to their stories. It might save you some hard ache and you might even get a good laugh. Remember, one day you will be that old man or old woman watching the world get faster and faster.