Similar snapshots of this moment will be reflected in different families and times, past, present and future. There are moments of absurdity that occur in every family. Sitting on top of each other on a soft and comfortable sofa, my mother, sister and I demonstrate such a moment. Looking at this particular photograph, a feeling overwhelms me: love. Simply saying “love,” however, seems overstated and unspecific. Simply saying “love” is like comparing a puddle on a sidewalk to the ocean, the depth of the ocean cannot be explored through a simple puddle. My affection for this image lies in the obvious familial connection and care shown. There is an awareness among the family, especially among the sisters, of fierce protection, warm comfort and deep loyalty that encompasses what I call familial love. In this image I see my family sitting on the couch in a way that's not quite out of step with the Joneses. The sofa looks blurry and the color is that of a mixture of mustard and Dijon peach. You can clearly see the wrinkles in the fabric and the patterns from when little hands smoothed swirls and shapes into the sofa cover. My mother is sitting on the pillow with her legs crossed in profile towards the camera. She's still wearing her work clothes after returning home from a 10-hour day as a professional hairdresser. Her mahogany hair, which looks remarkably like a shelf, is used exactly like that; a slender little girl, with blonde hair and eyes as blue as the ocean, wearing a white cotton shirt, is perched behind her on top of the couch, eating ice cream from the cup resting on the back of her mother's head. Completing the hat trick is my older sister. Doing what big sisters do best, she sits protectively behind me, so I do...half of the paper...perhaps, we still feel obligated to interact with and care for said family member. This type of love has no limits in who it can include. On the other hand, when there is a betrayal by a family member, the wound is much, much deeper. Families are destroyed every day due to decisions that do not take collective feelings into account. Family love is a primordial and instinctive feeling that guides a large part of our lives. This photograph is a hymn to simpler times. The only thing the children had to worry about was when their next meal would be, how much they might muddy the dogs, and whether or not they would be able to go out with their older sister and her friends. Familial love is such a complex feeling that this photo simply encapsulates a small part of the variance and beautiful emotion that can be the impetus for the emotions and actions of human beings everywhere.