Help Wanted

I have been working on a short story (that keeps growing) and I am going to be posting it here.
For simplicity I am going to call it The S.A.M. Story.

I would like your help by asking for your input in critiquing it please.
Please let me know what to add, subtract, or clarify-thanks!

I will be posting a new part every day or two, so keep an eye out.
I will start this evening.

Although it has been fun writing it, and I would have done it anyway, (and will continue to write) if it is something that can and does appeal to others I would like to know that too!

Thank you!!

REYNA

More Art Work From My Child

This is a picture my son made for his father who likes the "real" Rams but also has bighorn sheep in his hometown. 
The medium for this was watercolors and watercolor pencils.  This and this are oil paintings.

Neither my camera nor me are very good "quality" so I don't do justice to his work, but I hope you get an idea of his talent!

S.A.M.s

My friend and I invented this new game before we were really good friends to help us get to know more about each other.
It helped us a lot because we were not in the same town, so some of the things you learn from just being around someone physically, we didn't have that opportunity to see and learn.

We call it S.A.M.s.
S.A.M. is an acronym for Something About Me.
We share something about ourselves the other doesn't yet know.
It is informative and fun and even insightful, opening up great conversations.

Sometimes what one person shares spurs the other to piggy-back on or add-to something about themselves they might not have thought of before.  
I am surprised how similar I have found myself to be with the other person on some things when we play this game.
Some random examples that might be shared are: The smell of bus exhaust has special memories for me, or I like to sleep with a fan on, or I can't stand sorting socks because I had to do it all by myself for my whole family when I was young, etc.

What I found is that this can work also for estranged loved ones we are reconnecting with.
Or co-workers we are wanting to get to know better.
Or family members around the dinner table as a conversation starter.  (It is also a way to invite teenagers to share when they otherwise might not, making it more comfortable if everyone else is taking a turn....or not....we are talking teenagers....)

The thing about S.A.M.s is that they should only be used for fun and to get to know more about someone.  
They should NEVER be used against someone (ever or communication may be negatively affected) unless you or someone were in some sort of danger and then you should be sharing it with a trusted person or authority.
(But then I wouldn't be calling it a "game" anymore either.)

Although I have known some of my friends since high school there are still things "I never knew..."

A real S.A.M. -     I used to worry that people would not like or read my blog-now I don't care (although I appreciate that people support me!) because I am doing it because it is fun for me!!

What's your S.A.M.?

More Of My Child's Art Work

This is a picture my son made for an engineering student.

The symbols have meaning but I have no clue what they are.

What different style from the last picture. 

My Child's Artwork

What a better place to display and share some of my child's artwork than here?! 

So he's a big child!  For a mother, no matter the age, they will always be your child....

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." ~Pablo Picasso

I am so grateful he never outgrew using and sharing his art! 
 
Here is/are a picture(s) he was commissioned to do-which he did while he was on a short visit back home. If you like them, please share :)

They are much bigger than they look.
And I am sorry I am also photo shop and photo placement illiterate  but hopefully you get the idea!
 

 

  
"As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life." ~John Lubbock

You Are Just A Little Kid....

I was informed by my 6 yr. old friend:
"You don't know these things.  You're just a little kid in an old body."

What she didn't realize is how accurate she was/is.

So many times throughout life my emotional self has felt (and behaved) much younger than my physical self. 
I do feel like I am just a kid at times.
And sometimes I want to be void of the responsibilities of adulthood and  just be a kid too!
Have you ever entertained that idea or acted that way? 
Well, I have... as past posts on this blog can attest to.
(Some things should not be bragged about...) 

Recently, I have felt like I am in an old body too.
So all in all, maybe I don't know all I thought I did, as she is right-in that on some days-I am just a little kid in an old body.

"Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened." ~Jennifer Yane

The Mechanic and The Broken Heart

Another short story:

Chance meeting is how she would come to get to know the mechanic.
She initially had no clue what he even did for a living.
She had just come along for the ride with a friend.

Had she known her heart would later encounter him she may have been more aware of it all.
She may have paid more attention.
All she remembered was his welcoming manner and ease in conversation and laughter that he brought.
Something that stood out to her and she would later recall with favor.

The fortuitous encounter would open experiences that would not of happened otherwise.
As she would come to learn more about him through S.A.M.s - a game of Something About Me she came to see him in a feeling way.
Not as the "nice stranger", but as someone who was becoming real as the pieces fit together.
Pieces that were composing, no longer just an image but, a caring person.

So one day she decided to carefully place the treasured broken heart that she had guarded in safe keeping for years in herself, and bring it to the mechanic. 
It presented itself unsuspectingly.
Caught him off guard.
Not just the vulnerability, as he too was composing pieces of her into someone he valued and had hoped to someday encounter too, but the extent of the work needed.

It was out of his element.
Although he was intelligent and amazing at the work he did, this was a new challenge he had in front of him.
Not that he hadn't seen broken hearts before, but that the responsibility of such a cherished and even sacred piece was not something he was equipped to fix.
Although he had given it his best effort, in all his years of training and experience he had never completely restored a broken heart.

Because broken hearts take The Master Craftsman, something he wasn't.
Something she in her vulnerable exposure had omitted to ask or to see.
Supposing he was capable because she believed it, wanted it, needed it.
Something that in the end would not be fair to either of them.

And although he yearned to be able to help and was gentle in the handling of the pieces, he could not make the needed repairs.
Not even for himself nor his own heart.
As there is no human that possesses that ability.

As she came to accept this, she carefully picked up what lay in front of her and handed it to him.
And with tears in her eyes she peered deep into his, into his soul, inaudibly speaking words of gratitude, sadness and love as he would gently place the pieces of her heart tenderly back where they had come from.
And as he did, another piece broke and a tear fell from his eye.

Walking to the door, she glanced back one last time at him, gently and very slowly pulling the door shut behind her as she knew the loneliness that would await, for she now no longer saw a mechanic, but a compassionate man. 


"God can heal a broken heart, but He has to have all the pieces."  ~Author Unknown