She could have been beautiful if it weren't for her madness; those striking blue eyes staring out into some place of her making. They said I looked like her once while at a family reunion, then suddenly they looked at each other and began drinking their tea,their noses buried in their cups.
My grandmother spent most of her adult life in mental wards, the only one visiting her was my grandfather. He remembered the love. He held onto the love. When he died, which was some forty years after she did, I found among his things this photo of her and ten letters written to him by her during the war. In her letters I see behind the sparkling haunting eyes....a rush to love while there was still light.
A bit rusty....but here's my Magpie # 70
http://magpietales.blogspot.com
that speaks of unconditional love...
ReplyDeletelove it!
JJRod'z
..a rush to love while there was still light...beautiful, heart wrenching... We all we so taken by this woman in the prompt. I wonder what she would have thought of it all, the fact that so many people are seeing her photo, all over the world, and then we are WRITING about her! Wow...Maybe she knows...
ReplyDeleteA beautiful and haunting photo... We will never know what makes someone so different and why their life doesn't seem to fit in this world.
ReplyDeleteI look at those eyes and one side seems different than the other. Maybe she was put together differently than most. Maybe a part of her brain developed in an altered way.
I know the results. I saw the beginnings. I had a cousin. She was schizophrenic and her life was a tragic and desperate struggle to understand the world around her. She died young, of her own doing, and never had someone that gave her what she needed... like your grandfather. My cousin wore people out and scared them. She was beautiful and afraid of herself.
Your grandfather was a good man.
Always there's a story behind the face. The fact that there are few "old" photos in which the faces smile makes the intrigue that much richer. Your story make this one so!
ReplyDeleteRick
Rusty .... I think not. I forgot that I was reading a piece from a prompt and I was thinking that this indeed was your grandmother. The lovely thing about this piece is it's truth for it is a true story for someone. Nicely penned.
ReplyDeleteOoooooooooh ... the first line says it all Suz! Nice Magpie.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! People had all kinds of hormone imbalances that were never properly diagnosed or treated.
ReplyDeletePoignant and beautiful...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteTender memories.
ReplyDeleteThere is no rust here... only a bright, creative mind doing her thing... you sucked me right in with your writing...thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is true love. Eternal...
ReplyDeletea statement
gripping...all too familiar. thanks suz!
ReplyDeleteA very beautiful piece, "a rush to love while there was still light." Brilliant! Inspired!
ReplyDeleteThis is so touching and heartbreaking. Loved it
ReplyDeleteBeautiful piece of writing...the narration was amazing and so was expression of emotion...'the rush to love while there was still light' touching, kudos :)
ReplyDeleteSo lovely that his love remained true to the end.
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