Maggie Cesarini
12th Grade
Torrey Pines High School
San Diego County
A single, overworked father cradles his newborn child, the baby serene in her dreamlike state. The bags under his eyes and unshaven face punctuate an exhausted existence. His physical tiredness, however, is relegated to the background—replaced by his loving embrace with his child, delicately holding his baby’s hand, his touch providing the means for the baby’s tranquility. The father’s labors of love take many forms, but the most profound one is there in his offspring. He contemplates his gratitude for his good fortune in the midst of relentless uncertainty, as he silently projects to his child: “Let compassion always guide you on your journey.”
