I'm not sure what I can say about this picture that it doesn't say better for itself...
It's not the best picture I've ever taken, but it's one of my favorites. The guy on the right is my father-in-law. The guy on the left, I've forgotten his name, I'm sorry to say. They were having a fine time swapping stories on that lovely November day. In the 20 or so minutes that had elapsed since my "Papa Cork" had wandered out of the museum, leaving the rest of the family to browse the gift shop, a new friendship had been born.
They had already exchanged names, talked about their families, and discovered that they both had grown up in Indiana. With that bond established, they moved on to Indiana basketball, both the games they remembered from their high-school days and the current state of Indiana ball. The subject of boxing, or maybe wrestling had been covered, and by the time we met back up with Papa Cork and his new best friend, they were onto fishing, and quite possibly kayaking, which is one of my father-in-law's particular passions. They were both having a grand old time, as you can see.
The other gentleman's family came out of the museum about the same time we did, and we all chatted for a little while and then we went our separate ways. It was just a perfectly normal family outing, almost forgettable in its normalcy, to be honest.
I can't help thinking that this is partly what Dr. King had in mind when he talked about how one day we would judge one another by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin; and that these two old guys in their funny hats, hanging out and swapping stories as they waited for their families is something that would make him smile.
I'm not the world's greatest photographer, and I certainly didn't plan the picture to be anything more than my father-in-law and his new friend, but the museum we happened to be visiting that day was part of the Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site, and in the background you can see the tomb of Dr. King.
I do realize that we have a long way to go in terms of race relations in this country, but this photo speaks to me of how far we have come in my lifetime.