Claude Monet | La Grenouillère | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)
La Grenouillère – Claude Monet
Oldest Daughter – 07/21/21
…and now in college at NYU when her grandfather called, or she texted him, they could always arrange a few hours, usually went more, at the Met, just like, well, a bit like, when she would visit him as a child and he would take her by the hand and they would “stroll” as he always said, through the galleries and always, always, wind up with his Impressionist “friends” again as he would say, happy, peaceful, and at “home” he once said. And when she was little, she always felt the same, she thought it must be everything good that flowed from his hand to hers which she held not tight but just right, for he would never forget her, she was sure, and he always reached for her hand and led her along the way. And now that she was older, and also now a little taller than her grandpa, he didn’t hold her hand, but she linked her arm through his to steady and secure this old man, yes, and one she loved, and they would still scroll to visit his friends, each leading the other, she more and more by degrees each time they strolled, wonderful and loving, but for her tinged with a precious sadness, as she knew that in time…she would stroll alone… And when they came to this painting, a happy group of friends upon the river, they would stand absorbed in their own thoughts. She always loved this painting as a child because from her view she saw so much more clearly the wonderful sunlight shining upon the moving living waters, the movement, the gift of the swimmers of the man flesh, the two of them in the waters, something as a child that riveted her eyes, a secret little delight and somehow a longing she shared with no one, not even her grandfather, and yet now that she had her own man flesh in her life… “Grandpa, I have a man in my life now”. And he was quiet for a moment then smiled, softened with years of memories, and he said, “He must be a swimmer, a man whose presence and movement makes the rivers of your life shimmer with light, yes?” And she had not thought of that, but said, “Yes”, for it was true, and after a moment, they strolled away from the painting, arms linked again, absorbed in their thoughts of each other, and she, of the man, the man flesh in her river, and that was…good…
0 Comments