While I was in Florida, my stepmother asked me if there were any of my dad's belongings that I wanted. There was only one thing I really wanted...this watercolor.
It had hung in my parents' home while I was growing up and I always loved it. My parents didn't go to church so any "theology" I got was either from my grandmother, who attended a rather scary Pentecostal church, or second hand through items like this.
My stepmother seemed reluctant to let me have it and told me she would box up some items and ship them to me later. The box came while I was in the midst of my chemo and remained unopened....until today. Cleaning out our basement and the rest of our house to prepare for a huge garage sale is my first priority during my period of "fun-employment." (For those who haven't heard, I left my job with Nationwide after 10 years and I'm taking the summer off before I move on to my next job.)
I was so happy to see that the robin and sparrow watercolor was in the box. I was so apprehensive and would have been very sad if it hadn't.
When I asked my stepmother for that, I had no idea how much the attitude depicted in that painting would carry me through the next period in my life. It now means even more that it did before I was diagnosed.
