WAITING FOR THE GILGEN

 

It’s been many years since the children began leaving home and going off to school. Longer still since the sound of their young voices rose and fell in the excitement of playing the newest game or with the newest toy. The children still return occasionally to the place they once called home, but they have moved on now to homes of their own.

The parents have activities and interests that keep them occupied now that the children have gone. They have slowly learned to adapt.

But what about the toys, the ones that remain behind, the ones that generated so much excitement and fun so long ago. They sit now silently in place, ignored and pretty much forgotten in rooms no longer occupied by the children they once delighted. They wait for the visits that come less often now, never complaining, in quiet resignation, they wait. They wait for the times when they see their children again, and hear their voices. Perhaps just a glance in their direction from the children or a smile, recall memories of days long ago when they were the center of attention. They wait for those moments.

When our son was very young he couldn’t say the word children, he said gilgen instead. This painting is titled, “Waiting for the Gilgen” and is oil on canvas.