A study in loss and how the memory of loved ones who have passed stays on.

This piece started with an image I found online, which at first seemed bizarre and whimsical. An old Irish man with a goat on his back catches the eye for all the obvious reasons. However, when I saw it, there was a look in the man’s eyes that took me off guard. At first glance he looks happy, which he is, but there is a layer of sadness in his eyes. It is the kind of look that you see in the eyes of someone speaking fondly about a loved one who is no longer with them. there is of course joy in the memories, but there is anguish in their absence.

So the look that I saw in this man’s eyes stuck with me, and I created a story around this universal feeling. The story is one of love lost through the passage of time. The man in the portrait has lost his wife, and cannot bear the weight that her absence is having on him. There is no joy left in his life, and he is struggling to find meaning in a life without her in it. Enter into the story our second character, the goat. One day, the man in his state of grief is sitting in his old Irish cottage. Abruptly, he realizes there is a goat in his house, and he has no idea where it came from. He naturally shoos it out of the house. This, however, does not work. Over the next few days, the goat continues to pop up. It follows him to the shops. It constantly sneaks into his house. It shows up in his local pub. The goat is everywhere. Each time the goat shows up, the man repeatedly pushes the goat out of his life.

However, as the goat keeps appearing, the man develops a fondness for his new friend. He allows it to accompany him to the shops. He lets it keep him company as he drowns his sorrows. He even lets it sleep beside the fire in his house.

Not to explain the obvious, but the goat is not just a pet that the man comes to tolerate. The goat represents loss, pain, and learning to live with the grief. We never “get over” losing a loved one. We learn to live with it and find ways in which their memories can continue to bring us joy.

The typography in the piece tries to complement this feeling. “Darling Always” is an attempt to capture this feeling in two words.