Stepping In

A few years ago, my son and his friends picked me up at work to take me to get my car which was being repaired. My son drove, with me sitting in the back seat with Cole. As we were going around curves, and I was being jerked around, Cole reached out to me and showed me the bar to hold on to and he said, "Mom, hold on". Cole was practically living in our home, therefore, referring to me as "mom".

The next day, as I was cleaning my house, I came across my maternal grandfather's picture which I had placed in a closet. The picture scared my kids, they said his eyes seem to follow you, so, I took it down and stored it away. On this particular day, I thought about my lovely flowers blooming outside, so I went and picked a few and placed inside my grandfather's frame. He was 18 at the time of picture. There, scarey made beautiful with presence of the flowers! A few hours later, my son came home and said, "mom, mom, he's dead, he's dead, they killed him!" Cole had been working at "game exchange" when a robber came in. He had Cole open the cash registry, which he did and hand him all the money. Then, he demanded a particular new game, today, I do not recall which game it was, but it was the newest game out which was hard to find. When Cole told the robber they did not have the game, he shot and killed him. Cole was 18 years old.

As I laid crying on my bed, staring up at the empty ceiling, billowing clouds seemed to be "breathing" around me. Suddenly, it froze and it was as if Cole's presence was in front of me. I whispered, "Cole, let go", then a warm peacefulness filled me.

I painted the painting of my grandfather one evening after Cole's death, while my son was sleeping peacefully on my sofa. The warmth was magnetic.

My grandfather was born in 1901, thereby making this picture in its original frame being 90 years old. Wow! I remembered the year he was born because my paternal grandmother was born the same year.