What These Eyes Have Seen

Well, I've waited and waited and waited. I wanted to have a really cool picture for my 200th. I couldn't figure out what I wanted it to be. But, as I was looking through some photos that I had taken around the house, I came upon this one.

I had completely forgotten that I had taken it. I was testing out my new Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens, and I wanted to see how well it performed in a natural-light setting. When I opened this picture in my viewer, it struck me.

My grandmother's steely-blue eyes, the worn, haggard look of her skin, the stoic gaze...they all spoke to me.

My grandmother is in her early 80s, and I cannot imagine all of the history to which she has borne witness. She has outlived one of her children, her husband of 57 years, has lived through World War II, has seen the wax and wane of the American economy (some might say empire), the Red Scare of McCarthyism, the first launch of man into outer space...more than I can possibly fathom.

She is the matriarch of my family. She is stalwart in spirit. She is my grandmother. She is loved.