Yet there apparently was a twinkling light in this mid-hell I was dropped in. Our new neighbor who I mainly knew as a talented architect and good family man who is always such an enthusiastic waver which always makes me smile a little bigger, Dave Burris had, from my first casual mention of this project, offered to make me drawings of the studio in trade for a big painting. He and his wife had recently viewed my art at a gallery and his reaction was "Your watercolors are phenomenal!" You know I meet a lot of "complimentary" people, and truly, in the back of my mind I'm always half thinking they're complimenting the damn wheelchair. Why? Because if compliments were sales, I'd be able to afford framing all the big art I'd really like to paint hahaha! Or if compliments were tickets to success this studio would have been done in a month.
Anyway, I gave Dave an update on the project and he basically responded with a plan that he's gonna make all the nonsense stop. Long story short, after much research on materials and corrective options, yesterday morning at 7-ish AM, July 26, he showed up with a new crew, prepped the bad floor and 2 hours later the concrete truck arrived and poured a more leveled top coat! My husband took pictures of the process because he was so impressed Dave was right in the concrete mud pushing the mix along with the 3 other men working!!!!
Hard to see the lumps in middle of original state but it was bad. |
"Peonies in Watercolor" full sheet |
When Dave returned at the end of the day (with his beautiful new baby girl on carrier he had on his back), to check on the floor, I asked him, "Why did you do this? Why did you take it all on to make it right and for nothing?" Without pausing to think, he responded, "Isn't this what people do for their neighbors? I just want to see you be able to move into your studio!"
Maybe I was that normal grateful person talking to him yesterday, but inside I was drenched in happy tears. I'm physically in tears typing this. Every time I allow myself a moment to think about this I feel I suddenly get weak soul deep and ready to collapse from sheer relief. I feel the sun on my face for the first time after sitting in the a dark cold place for months even though my husband and I have just stepped into another life challenge. But the foremost question I have is:
Is there ever a way to thank someone for something he thinks is just a normal kindness people do for others even though it happens to be the kindest thing ever done for me by a practical stranger?
My emotions still dizzy from this never-ending roller coaster ride called life. I decided to stare at my grandma's picture I took of her when she was alive a few years before we had to let her go at 97. She is my mentor for knowing joy no matter how bad things are. I was always able to make her bust up laughing and this was one of those specific times :) I drew the picture of her I took with the bird on her head as she tried to hold her laughter in hahaha! I have also been inspired by a quote:
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive." ~Walt Whitman
"Joy to Behold" charcoal on paper 9x12 |