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I stood in the little cafe watching the family. The oldest member, an elderly woman who was curved and bowed, deeply settled into her own frame, was in a wheelchair. Her hair was as soft and white as snow and her face, a round full-moon lit by sky-blue eyes, was etched with lines and wrinkles. She sat quietly, watching and listening to the buzz of conversation around her. Whenever anyone spoke to her she would smile and give a slight wave.
Beside her a young woman, a granddaughter or great-granddaughter perhaps, sat holding a baby in her lap.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
I stood in the little cafe watching the family. The oldest member, an elderly woman who was curved and bowed, deeply settled into her own frame, was in a wheelchair. Her hair was as soft and white as snow and her face, a round full-moon lit by sky-blue eyes, was etched with lines and wrinkles. She sat quietly, watching and listening to the buzz of conversation around her. Whenever anyone spoke to her she would smile and give a slight wave.
Beside her a young woman, a granddaughter or great-granddaughter perhaps, sat holding a baby in her lap.
Transcript
Home Planet: Moments in time fly by too fast to grasp
Cheryl-Anne Millsap
The Spokesman-Review
The man standing next to me at the corner, waiting for the light to change, pointed to the crimson and gold foliage of the trees lining the boulevard, and said, “Look at all that beautiful color. It’s like it happened overnight.”
I looked around, and it did seem as though the display had been put out while our heads were turned.
It hadn’t, of course. For weeks the landscape has been subtly changing. Summer green fading to expose the color that was underneath the whole time. The metamorphosis took place in tiny, almost imperceptible, steps until one day the difference was so strong and so obvious we were dazzled.
Like the bulbs I just planted. They’re snug now in flower beds, ready to be blanketed by snow, kept warm and well-fed while they wait for spring, but when they burst into bloom at...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO: OUTRO:Cheryl-Anne Millsap writes for the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, WA. She can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com
B Hall
Posted on April 21, 2010 at 04:26 PM | Permalink
Thanks
Yesterday my twins turned 11, and I found a tear in my eye as I gave them hugs and congratulations. I too felt it all happens so fast. Soon we might be the okd lady. I hope I see it coming.
Bryan