of memoirs and musings

She looked at the photo, her eyes searching the image from corner to corner and top to bottom. Her mouth was agape in amazement. She didn't squint her eyes which seemed to sparkle from behind the little pair of glasses. Her arms rested on the sides of the wheelchair. The other younger woman who was pointing at the image knelt beside her and explained more about the photo in front of them. She spoke in Cantonese, slowly and clearly, hands touching the arms of the old lady in the wheelchair. I think she is the old lady's daughter. The old lady nodded and smiled at the explanations.

They went from photo to photo along the sidewalk, slow and steady. Each time, the younger woman will position the old lady in front of the photo and proceed to explain the photograph's story to her. Sometimes she leaned against the wheelchair from behind with her hands resting gently on the old lady's shoulders. At times she whispered into her ear and the old lady will break into a little chuckle. The old lady was always beaming. I love how the photo's spotlight cast a beautiful glow on her face, so beautiful the strings of decorative lights draping the trees around her paled in comparison. I love how gentle, patient and loving the younger lady was with her.

I wanted to take a photo of them among the many photographs but I didn't. The photo is in my mind though, permanently archived in memory like the one of the father in Brussels who waltzed with his baby son in the middle of the Grand Place to an outdoor opera one summer night. Yann Arthus-Bertrand's The Earth from Above is simply amazing... earth from among however, stole my heart and mesmerized me in its warmth all night long.