Silent, Broken, yet....Finding Inner Strengths

Monday morning, early.  DENSE FOG.  I'm not going anywhere for now, so at the computer I sit...



All these sketches I share today are drawn from memory...or what was on my mind at the time. No photo guides on either....

This first one, is a copied one of the original...our daughter, Irene, has the pencil sketch from my work...I sketched on the back of a magazine during our grandson's open heart surgery.  He was born with Downs and at 5 months of age he went through a multiple hour operation to repair his defective heart.  I also wrote a poem during the waiting period.   There will be more on this sketch below all drawings shared... The 2nd sketch is of my parents...circa late 1970s-early 1980s.

This first one was a work of what I was feeling when I found out [1969] that my high school sweetheart had been KIA in Viet Nam [it's a conglomeration of many...a map of Viet Nam, a tearful friend, a  soldier, a flag of each country, helicopter, tank, military foot garb - and the brick wall is to depict that when I found out it was like being hit with a ton of bricks!!].  I was truly war-torn at the loss of a sweet guy...He was 21.  The 2nd one I titled Crown of Thorns.

This last one was during the Obama Inauguration Ceremony...When the TV camera panned through the crowd, this lady was so calm, yet the lone tear falling from her cheek hit my heart strings.  I had to try and draw her from memory.  I still, to this day, can see her face...it was a day of history that will live on forever.  With this woman and her in mind,  I titled this one "Thank God Almighty..."


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Coming back to my sketch of Clint, my grandson...
first, this is a screen shot [70%] of a blog post from long ago:



...and the poem I composed during his operation:


[this was written in the hospital waiting room, on a magazine cover, during our grandson's open heart surgery - at 5 months of age. And the image above is my own graphic. The face in the clouds is actually Clint! Superimposed from a pencil sketch of mine of him.]

...and the poetry written that day:


CLINT'S SKY
© Hootin' Anni

I think the sky ends in your heart
so you've captured mine.
With twilight's purples, pinks, and gold...
The knowledge now that which I cast
what tokens I hold.

As the sun, you're glowing, alive and fresh.
Stars, you sparkle and shine.
Like the moon, you're stately, powerful, bright.
Clouds, you're tender and fine.
Your dark storms' furies: Natural passion is God's will.

The mystical horizon, the inner light...our existences entwine.
I think the sky ends in your heart Clint,
And so, you've captured mine.


One more note: After the successful operation was over, the pediatricians and surgery specialists gave Irene, and us...a 5 year life span expectancy for Clint. He is now 31 years of age, in May.