And At That Moment I Swear We Were Infinite

I painted this piece back in February.  I've dabbled in this design before with some auction donations, but had never done one I was able to keep.  Well, I am not really keeping it, but will be able to visit it.  It's for Sam who turns twenty-one next week.  Some of you new to me don't know of Sam, but many of you I've been friends with since she was a toddler and I was started to take my life into paper arts~rubber stamp art~mixed media~and more painterly pursuits.  It's been a long road and there have been many choices I made along the way that slowed down my journey and that took me out of the mainstream eye.  Regrets have surfaced from time to time but have been short-lived because the road to have Sam was also long yet held a smattering of miracles.

So here we are at the cusp of her adulthood (well, still some college and grad school) looking at a flower in full bloom.  She has so many years, experiences, challenges ahead (represented by the fullness of the flower's petals.)  The seventy or so French knots that make up the center of the flower are the moments I hope we are still able to have with her throughout the years.  The quote I added is one of her favorites that she introduced me to while in high school.  It quickly became one I really love because I can remember the feeling that Stephen Chbosky refers to from long ago.  It's hard to feel infinite in your fifties, but there are times when the three of us are together that I have a fleeting moment where I want it to go on forever.  But time doesn't stand still, so more changes are afoot as she travels on her journey and I meander on mine.

HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY, SAM.