The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss

Photographs and portraits symbolize those Gloria Vanderbilt has lost in her life and the fact that they have remained with her after their deaths. In addition to this symbolism, photographs and portraits act as motifs that show Vanderbilt steadily undergoing a Healing From Loss. In her childhood years, the only trace of her dead father that she had was the photograph of him holding her shortly after her birth. Vanderbilt initially lamented that seeing his photograph was the only way to be with him.

As Vanderbilt grew older, however, the photographs of her deceased loved ones became comforts for her. After her high school boyfriend John Delehanty died in a car accident, she mourned him and then moved forward but kept his photograph. Her possession of his photograph even at the time of the memoir reflects that she still values the love and the memories they shared. Similarly, following her mother’s death, Vanderbilt kept her portrait, which reminds her of the beautiful woman she once envied as a child and makes her feel more loved than she ever did when her mother was alive. She also kept photographs of Dodo, the mother figure who always supported her and never stopped loving her.