The things that matter

No, I’m not getting ready for Halloween a few months too early, nor am I being spiteful about the commercial morass that is the Valentine’s Day “holiday.” Instead, what you see to your right (in a Reuter’s photo) is a picture of a most extraordinary valentine, the oldest documented human embrace. You see, archaeologists dug up this loving pair near Mantua, Italy, and the Neolithic pair are purportedly 5000-6000 years old. I mean, if you thought your grandparents were lovey-dovey on their 50th anniversary, try a 5000th anniversary (I don’t suppose a diamond ring suffices…). That’s real love, folks. You can imagine them looking into one another’s eyes in their final moments, holding each other tight waiting for whatever horror it was that befell them.

I am once again reminded of Keats’ Grecian urn, which was imprinted with the image of a couple so near the point of consummation but who were never to reach it through all eternity. That doomed pair appeared to Keats to be happy on the surface, until he realized that they would never embrace. Compare that image to this one: the world has fallen away from these lovers, indeed they’re very bodies have fallen away from them, but clearly, they shared something very special, very sweet, in their final moments.

These were young lovers, and of course from that perspective, people may talk about young lives being cut short and the like. Yet for me, I can’t help but think, “how wonderful.” How absolutely wonderful it would be to stare into the eyes of the person you love in the final moments of your life. Maybe that is a morbid silver lining, but…my my. What a perfect time for those archaeologists to have found such a thing.

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 : Personal, Current Events : No Comments

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