Today is my Grandmother’s 95th birthday. It’s also the day I finished Wim Wenders 2014 Oscar nominated documentary and free Selby Library loaner “The Salt of the Earth”.
What could these two things possibly have in common?
First, my grandmother, Florence Baker, has endured countless deaths and tragedies. From her parents passing, to four siblings, to her husband and her 50 year old son, she has endured. She’s lived in Sarasota since Old 301 was a dirt road to the present where there is barely room for a sidewalk between condos. A mind bending life for anyone.
Similarly, the photographer, on which “The Salt of the Earth” was based, weathered existing among, and taking photos of, dying populations, from the Ethiopian famine to the Rwandan genocide. He also wrestled with his son’s Down Syndrome to the disintegration of his Dad’s ranch. Brazilian photographer, Sebastiano Salgado has also survived.
Not only has this unlikely pair lived to tell, so to speak; they are joyous.
My Grandmother has never giggled more in her life. She laughs at the strife of Pence’s book and its liberal rebuke; she shakes her head at my father who thinks he remembers better than she does.
Salgado found his renaissance in the replanting of trees on the barren Brazilian farm he inherited from his father; in essence turning away from the pessimism of human death to the wondrous birth and survival of nature.
Perhaps the key to life is to focus on joy and to turn our attention to where happiness and re-birth occur.
Both Grandma and Sabastiano would agree, it’s high time to stop the whining nonsense. Look around and take time to appreciate your blessings.
