I gazed at the blank paper on my easel, listening to the birds outside my window.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it was that moment just before I put brush to canvas that was hardest. Besides, this was an important painting, a gift for people who had helped me through one of the toughest times in my life. It had to be exactly right to show them how I felt.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d been diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before and it changed my whole life. There was so much to go through: consultations, surgery, radiation.<\/p>\n
My husband, Ed, was totally supportive, but he couldn\u2019t always stay beside me during my treatment. Even my friend Kim, a breast cancer survivor herself who called me every day, felt very far away in Florida.<\/p>\n
I dipped my brush into a pot of water. A new bird flew over to join the others outside in song. As an avid bird-watcher I couldn\u2019t help but admire him: a bright red cardinal.<\/p>\n
For me, bird-watching wasn\u2019t just a way to pass the time. Birds were God\u2019s way of showing us the beauty in the world. Even now, when I wasn\u2019t able to go outside, I could look out my window and see them.<\/p>\n
It was as if He had created them so that even when life got ugly we would have something beautiful to remind us of his love.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be outside with my binoculars again soon<\/i>, I promised the cardinal, watching him swoop from one branch to another. My radiation treatments were coming to an end and with them, hopefully, the end of my cancer. <\/p>\n
I thought back to the August day I started my sessions at Mercy Medical Center. Ed had already missed so much work caring for me, he couldn\u2019t come with me. I had no idea what to expect. A scary, cold building full of machines?<\/p>\n
Instead I walked into a cozy waiting room with cheerful paintings on the walls and an even more cheerful receptionist behind the desk. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see you, Jennifer,\u201d she said. \u201cJust have a seat right over there and I\u2019ll call you when the team is ready.<\/p>\n
She gave me a reassuring nod, like she knew how scared I was. That little bit of kindness, like the bright paintings on the walls, made me feel stronger.<\/p>\n
I almost hated to leave the receptionist behind when I went to the treatment room, but it turned out the technicians who worked my machines were just as comforting. \u201cJust watch\u2014you\u2019ll miss us when your six weeks are up!\u201d one of them joked as she adjusted the dials.<\/p>\n
That first day I couldn\u2019t imagine missing anything about the place, but as my final treatment approached, I realized it was true.<\/p>\n
Oh, I wouldn\u2019t miss the treatments, but the people were a different story: the reception staff who knew my name and my schedule better than I did, the technicians who told jokes to put me at ease, even the cleaning staff who greeted me with a smile. Their kindness made all the difference.<\/p>\n
A tradition at Mercy was for patients to bring something in on their last day, donuts or cookies they\u2019d baked to celebrate. That\u2019s why I was at my easel. I\u2019d been painting as a hobby for a couple of years. But what should I paint for the staff at Mercy?<\/i><\/p>\n
I closed my eyes and thought. The cardinal chirped, as if offering a suggestion. That\u2019s it!<\/i> I opened my eyes and thanked my bright red muse. I would paint a bird! Something beautiful for people to focus on.<\/p>\n
Ed thought that sounded like a great idea. \u201cIf anyone knows the beauty of birds, it\u2019s you,\u201d Ed said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My painting was finished a few days later: a cardinal sitting in a pine tree. But something was missing. I mixed some paint and added a pink ribbon\u2014the international symbol of breast cancer awareness\u2014curling out of the bird\u2019s beak.<\/p>\n
I called the painting Strength<\/i> because that\u2019s exactly what the people at Mercy gave me when I needed it.<\/p>\n
The staff was thrilled with my gift. The patients liked it too. I was just happy to give something back to people who had helped me so much. \u201cBut they\u2019re not the only ones I want to thank,\u201d I said to Ed when I got home. \u201cWhat about Dr. Sweitzer? I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better surgeon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you paint him a bird too?\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe a different kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day I was back at my easel, wondering what bird to choose. When two bluebirds landed on the tree outside my window, I had my answer. I named my bluebird painting Courage<\/i>, something a surgeon needs as much as his patients.<\/p>\n
Next on my list was my friend Kim. What would I have done without her daily phone calls? For Kim I chose a mockingbird sitting on a bougainvillea, just like the ones she would see at home in Florida. The mockingbird was for Friendship<\/i>. I painted a goldfinch for my friends at the Cancer Care Center at Mercy Medical, and called it Hope<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Finally, I painted a cedar waxwing. Those graceful birds had always been a favorite of mine, so they seemed the perfect tribute to the one I leaned on most throughout my illness: God. I called that picture Faith<\/i> and hung it at home for Ed and me. <\/p>\n
One day I got a call from a stranger. \u201cI saw your painting at the Mercy Medical Center. Is there any way I could get a copy? It\u2019s beautiful!\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure…\u201d I said. I didn\u2019t know how to go about such things. But more calls came, all people asking for prints of the painting. I\u2019d never expected this.<\/p>\n
Ed got right on it. He arranged for all my paintings to be available for anyone who wanted them. We gave out plenty.<\/p>\n
By Christmas I was officially cancer-free. I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better gift than that, but Ed said he had something special for me. \u201cCome and see,\u201d he said, turning on the computer. He typed in an address on the internet. <\/p>\n
I gasped as my birds popped up on the screen. Ed had designed a whole website for them. There was even a picture of me sketching! \u201cPeople can buy the paintings as note cards or prints,\u201d he explained, clicking me around the site.<\/p>\n
Best of all, a portion of every sale was donated to cancer research and to a fund that helped women in treatment. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m back to bird-watching outside with my binoculars these days. Each bird I see still feels like a gift. A gift that reminds me of the beauty in God\u2019s world. Beauty that surrounds us even when we\u2019re dealing with ugly things like cancer.<\/p>\n
No painting can compare, but if a picture of mine can give someone strength, courage or hope when she needs it most, that\u2019s what I\u2019d call art.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n