Rainbow Fish

Rainbow Fish by Maxwell Blue

I have four sisters and I love them all in their own individual way, but I will always consider my sister, Sara, to be the cutest one. She was the baby in the family for almost seven years, so she is also my youngest sister. I remember the day the photo was taken. It was sometime in November, right before her birthday in 1988. She was five years old.

The sky was clear and the midday sun made it a warm day in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Colors were bright. The grass was a vibrant green and the heavens were a playful blue. That day Sara was wearing pink Oshkosh overalls with different colored fish on them. Some fish were rainbow colored. Some had little stars on them. Several were striped. And one was blue with white polka dots. Sara was leaning, with her body pressed on a tree that was leaning to one side. A toothy grin was captured on her face with eyes had that twinkle. Nothing can be seen in the unfocused background. Just the sunlight and tree leaves that gave the impression of what looks like a sponge painting of greens and whites behind her.

Sara always had a mild disposition unlike the other Ruggeri girls. She was soft spoken and tended to trend lightly. I could always talk and reason with her. She never stormed off in a rage. She never shouted out obscenities or physically attacked me.

I often read to her. It was very enjoyable reading to my siblings. Sara had picked up the reading bug early on, that and the love of the library. I remember a video that I shot of her asking me where her library book was, explaining to me that it will be due in a couple of days. Telling me she was desperate to find it. Of course I had no idea where it was. But I had to chuckle at the frustration in her face and voice.

Today Sara is the one teaching. She spends her day handling the schooling of third graders, passing on her love of reading to them. I know she is understanding and thoughtful, because these were the qualities that she always had, even when she was five.