“The Sadness.”

Despite my many years of French lessons (which are oh-so-helpful in Alabama, let me tell you), I didn’t know what La Tristesse meant until I met Chris.

He had this weird, melancholy, artsy poster left over from his College Dorm Days – it said “La Tristesse” at the top, and was a very dramatic, black and white picture of a little girl with a tear running down her cheek.

I never understood why he was drawn to it – I found it to be an odd and depressing sort of picture, but being that he was a musician and all, I figured he was allowed some oddities for composition inspiration.

I hadn’t thought about that poster in years, until I took this picture the other day…

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And Chris felt it looked oddly familiar…

So he poked around in the basement until he found this…

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And we had the very eerie realization that Chris had a poster of his child – fifteen years before she was born.

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25 thoughts on “La Tristesse.

  1. I love the picture of Ali, just the right amount of melancholy. And, I agree with you, the poster is a little depressing to think of hanging on your dorm room wall.

    I have a request, if you haven’t already blogged about this topic, how did you meet your husband? This being the month of love it could be an appropriate blog topic, don’t you agree?

    1. I don’t know! She was just sitting there looking sad, and I thought it looked rather artistic, so I took the pic. She was okay five seconds later, though!

  2. Hi Guys
    İ wonder about the pic with the crying child.Whats the name of this model?existence other pics about this child?i have also a poster of this same pic,but i want to know about this child.Any bodys knows?

    1. I had this poster when I was a child, it was given to me by someone I loved very much. I think her name is Laura Baron, but I may be wrong. More than 20 years passed since then.

  3. wow. I seached the internet to find the sad picture I had above my bed during my teenage years that said la tristesse (I guess it was teen angst thing!) yours was the only place I found the image of the poster I was looking for. what an amazing resemblance to the little girl too.both real stunners, I imagine they both look even better with a big grin on their faces!

  4. I to have that very poster … Ive lived with & loved it for years..
    sadly though, it has suffered when a few years back it was put into storage, so if anyone can point me
    to where i can replace it, i would be eternally grateful… Nick

  5. I too had la tristesse on my wall, thirty years ago! Enigmatic, quietly shedding but an ounce of the weight of pain and passion she felt. Thank you for letting me see her again.

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