The bedroom where my mom will be sleeping when she comes to live with us, is the same bedroom that has been my studio for a couple of decades or more.
It had already served us well as the bedroom for my husband’s mom for the 13-14 years she lived with us.
It needed painting when I set up my studio in there, but I figured I’d do it when I got around to it ... 20+ years have passed and NOW is the time! No more putting it off!
Those dusty walls will need a good washing before priming and painting. And I suspect about a half gallon of spackling. There are lots of holes!
Because there were posters, a bulletin board, the portrait I did of my sweet cockerpoo, Chloe, who passed away in 2019, a calendar, a clock, photos and framed art from friends ... and not just one set of holes for each of those ... oh, no.
Through the years things on the wall got shifted occasionally when a new bookcase or cabinet came in, or if the furniture got rearranged. Before I even take down the things on the wall, there are holes where things once were. Yep, It might just take a whole gallon of spackling to fill all those holes!
Lots of working and living went on in that room, and it bears the battle scars that show it.
We all go through the years, living our lives, and neither us nor our stuff comes through unscathed.
Like my mom’s room, we sometimes need a little scrubbing and a fresh coat of paint to fix us all up again. Perhaps painting on people is not a great idea, but you get the point ... a little tender loving care goes a long way when you’ve been through the trenches getting banged up by living on planet earth.
I’m hoping that spackling and paint will camouflage the holes in the walls of mom’s room well, but sometimes on people the scars are right there for all to see permanently. We should wear our scars proudly ... they show the world that we tangled with life and lived to tell the tale. Sometimes our scars have great stories associated with them. And those are stories are a terrific source and inspiration for the children’s books we’re making every day.
Those kids are already dealing with life even at the younger ages, and life will only get more challenging as they grow ... so tell those stories! Make them fun and interesting to read. Fill them with good lessons and information so they’ll learn a little about what to expect and how to navigate life.
They won’t hear everything you say ... they probably won’t heed everything you say ... but the seed will be planted and the opportunity will be there ... and that will be your responsibility fulfilled and your job well done.
Thank you❤