Eye-catching ‘I love you’ spray-painted along Macon street is cheery hello to passersby

The red spray paint in the morning sun caught my eye. On my way into work the other day, the words “I Love You” shined above the sidewalk on a wooden fence along Montpelier Avenue. Vandalism though it was, the graffiti’s message — along with pair of squiggly red hearts — seemed like it’d make a cool backdrop for a photo essay.

Thursday morning for about an hour I set up a camera on a tripod across the street and snapped pictures as passersby stepped into the frame. Some waved, some said good morning, some paid me no mind. A man named Cornelius “Jazzy Red” Bridges, whose yard lies behind the graffiti-laden fence, walked up. The red-lettered love note didn’t seem to bother him, nor did he wonder for whom it might be intended. Bridges said whoever painted it sprayed the same thing on a bus-stop bench just up the street in front of the CVS at Pio Nono Avenue.

Then he was on his way, back across the street to take his dog Pup Pup for a walk — right past the “I Love You.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 3:45 PM.