Today was the six month date since the death of my beloved husband Darrell. I thought it might be quite an ordinary, sad day, but I was definitely mistaken.
My daughter was working late, so I was looking after my grandchildren, and we did an errand to help my son. On the way home we were going to stop and I would treat them to an ice cream. My granddaughter chose Dairy Queen, and I thought it interesting, as that had been the location of happy memories with Darrell when we first discussed marriage.
As we arrived at the store, rain started, and there were a few warning "pings" of hail on my windshield. We parked at the Dairy Queen just in time, and got inside the door as rain and hail started. The store has large windows on two sides, so we were able to observe the storm from different angles - close up and feeling very vulnerable.
It was like a hurricane, throwing leaves, branches and loose things through the air. The rain was very heavy and the hail was up to the size of a cherry. I was a bit worried about my car, but very thankful that the children and I were safe, along with the staff of the store and a family of customers. Soon the power was off in the store, and we all gazed in awe at the storm around us.
One minute we were safe and travelling along, and the next was a violent storm. One cannot help but draw analogies. My husband was healthy one moment, and within a short time he was gone.
When some paintings don't sell, or I tire of them, they get painted over. I put on a clean white layer of gesso. Some of the texture of the previous painting may remain, so that will need to be worked into the next painting design.
Here is a painting I did before my husband passed. It is one of those paintings that was painted over. It is called "Happy". The under painting will never be totally gone, and the texture works into the next. Life will never be the same, but happiness will indeed return some day.
