The Most Important Thing

My best friend Bruce gifted me a toy cow when we were in the first grade because I had this thing for cows. When I became a teenager, my parents divorced, and we moved a few hours away. I lost contact with Bruce and the cow as I tried to find my way again in a new city. Bruce passed away in a car accident before he was twenty-one. I felt the first real loss of my life.

Many years later during a very difficult time, I found the cow at the bottom of an old steamer trunk. It was there for me to find it when I needed it the most. It was a message for me that things represent memories and are only as important as we assign meaning to them.

Of all the things I possess, I still cherish that silly plastic toy cow. It sits on the fireplace mantle in the living room as if it were an elegant sculpture.

For my first painting of the year, I am dedicating to the most important thing in my life, the plastic cow. It is not the most important thing but is a symbol of a simpler time when the world was full of wonder and magic shared with a best friend.

As I become older and wiser, I am letting go of material things. As an artist and crafter, it is a challenge and a long process. Does my plastic cow spark joy? Yes, indeed it does!