Waiting for my Father Painting

"They say that abandonment is a wound that never heals. I say only that an abandoned child never forgets." ~Mario Balotelli Childhood is a difficult time, especially when being raised by just one parent. This painting is part of the series "Reconnecting Time and Memory: Buddha|Munchausen|Freud" and captures a moment in time that a child is old enough to realize there is a missing person in their life. This is a reflection of an empty train, a broken promise, a call that never came. All children want is to feel secure, loved, and wanted...sometimes, with rampant divorce, focus on career, and misguided self-interests, children get the raw end of the deal. There is nothing so sad as the child who is forever waiting for that call, that evidence that their parent(s) will always be there and always love them, and it does not come. Like salmon swimming upstream, some will make it, some may not...but there is that primal drive to survive. Ultimately, there is strength and resilience at the end of the journey. One just has to choose to fight for it.