Amazing Mother

We have an old black and white photograph from 1958. Most of us are sitting on a park bench in Guadalajara, about 2 weeks into a six-month trip to Mexico. The five girls are wearing matching dresses and the two older boys may be in matching shirts. We are traveling by camper, alternating between hotels and camping spots, and look happy, clean, and ready to stop posing and set off for adventure. Imagine the effort to keep us clean and fed, let alone happy and engaged!

On this sixth anniversary of my mother’s death I have been thinking about her impressive capacity to organize us and lead us off into marvelous opportunities and experiences. In 1958 there were eight of us and over the years there would be five more. The places we went, the people and ideas who came through our house, the causes we championed, the books and magazines we read, it all goes back to our parents’ vision for family and our mother’s ability to organize us around this vision. She was an amazing woman and I miss her very much.

This is a gouache and gel pen sketch on black Bristol paper.  I am still working on this sketch and may post and update tomorrow.