Dad shows me his newspaper face as he turns the pages, seated in the old seat, just a couple of meters away, inhabiting another world. In place of conversation there are headlines to consider. “What did we just do?” “Mac scientists go to ‘dark’ side.” He was one of those scientists once upon a time, now it’s enough to read and forget all about it in a single gesture. He has retired from his electrical engineering, he’ll never make another friend, and he’s slowly and steadily losing his memory aka his mind. The backpage reads: “Guts, Determination and Passion Got Him This Far. Help Him Go All The Way.”
Is it the oldest dream? Giving birth to my father. Shot on a single starry afternoon. Wordless, of course.
“The pelican at the end sums it up in a way – looking back while moving forward…. moving farther away from home/nest while fixating on the past…trying to find an answer there.” Charlie Egleston