illusions of permanence (Carol 2022)
Fifth in a series of five photos of my mother entered in the 2025 Many Faces of Mom contest. Here is the fourth entry in that series.
Eight weeks shy of her 90th birthday, after two years of pandemic postponement, my mother traveled from the U.S. to Spain to visit us for the first time since we moved here in 2019, accompanied by her grandson (my son). We were happily astonished by her energy, engagement, and independence. She was on fire, full of curiosity and questions and comments. She soaked up all the pageantry of Semana Santa in Valladolid, happily tried new foods and drinks (I guess it's never too late to discover vermut!), and was always up for more. On the last day of her visit we took a "castle tour" (this is, after all, Castile) with a last stop at the castle in Torrelobatón, which has been standing for 600 years.
Alas, nothing lasts forever! No doubt some day this castle will be but a pile of rubble. Four weeks to the day after this photo was taken, my mother passed away. The shock of her sudden decline and the sadness that she is gone, however, are tempered by the wonderful, joyful memories of her vitality that she exuded for nearly 90 years and right up to the end!
2022-04-18_174522
illusions of permanence (Carol 2022)
Fifth in a series of five photos of my mother entered in the 2025 Many Faces of Mom contest. Here is the fourth entry in that series.
Eight weeks shy of her 90th birthday, after two years of pandemic postponement, my mother traveled from the U.S. to Spain to visit us for the first time since we moved here in 2019, accompanied by her grandson (my son). We were happily astonished by her energy, engagement, and independence. She was on fire, full of curiosity and questions and comments. She soaked up all the pageantry of Semana Santa in Valladolid, happily tried new foods and drinks (I guess it's never too late to discover vermut!), and was always up for more. On the last day of her visit we took a "castle tour" (this is, after all, Castile) with a last stop at the castle in Torrelobatón, which has been standing for 600 years.
Alas, nothing lasts forever! No doubt some day this castle will be but a pile of rubble. Four weeks to the day after this photo was taken, my mother passed away. The shock of her sudden decline and the sadness that she is gone, however, are tempered by the wonderful, joyful memories of her vitality that she exuded for nearly 90 years and right up to the end!
2022-04-18_174522