January 2, 2010

Sunday Scribblings 196: New Leaf



Due to the move, Alycia had cleaned every last box out of the attic except this one.  A celebratory trip to the coffee shop awaited her when she finished.  Heaving the box from where Brock had placed it, she tugged it into the living room.  A knife slid through the unmarked lid.

"More of Evan's clothes we forgot to pass down to Michael and Brian?"  Brock teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him.  "The box is too small for that."

Pulling apart the cardboard folds she threw newspaper wads off the top.  A purse-sized book faced her.  She didn't recognize it at first.  Withdrawing it into the light she examined the cover.  Collaged across the front, yellowed under the glaze, were pictures from high school with the words:  "I'm a Grown-Up!"  and  "Freedom!"  decoupaged across it.

Alycia smiled.  She'd forgotten what her younger self dreamed about.  The book crackled as she opened it.  The first page had her as an eighteen-year-old graduate on it.  The next few pages held comments, collages and paintings of friends, thoughts and struggles.  Alyicia smiled, reminiscing the life she'd had then.  The last page was vibrantly painted but held only one line that said:  Life'll only get better from here!

The hope in that one statement made Alyica tear up.  Her younger self couldn't have known what life would bring.  How succeeding in her first job made her forget the dream of being an artist.  The difficulty of trying to have children.  Being surprised after adopting Evan to get pregnant with the twins.  Watching her children grow up and the return of her longing to paint.  While life hadn't gone exactly as she'd dreamed, she'd been right about it getting better.  Her children were adults now and she found herself once more "all grown up".  Alyica emptied the box tucking the journals into her hope chest to be browsed again later.

After Brock went to bed that night, she pulled a sketchbook out of the drawer along with paints and brushes. Sitting at the kitchen table she opened it to the first page and wrote:  Life'll only get better from here!

14 comments :

  1. A good attitude, a good chance of success.

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  2. So good and well put! Makes me want to get out my pretty journal and write so I can crackel it and read later only to be inspired again!

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  3. A charming piece!Life WILL get better!

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  4. I like how things came around in a circle. Now it's time to do all those things 'you' enjoyed again..Jae

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  5. Catherine,
    Delightful tale. It's all a matter of perspective; look for gold or coal and you'll find it. I was going trough my blog posts from 2009 and said with a tear in my eye, literally,, "I had a great year last year". No matter how old we get, life can always get better. ;)

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  6. A piece that inspires hope, regardless of what life has brought you. Very fitting for a "New Leaf" piece.

    Thank you for sharing your piece. :)

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  7. I like this a lot.
    I like the hope in it.

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  8. A thoughtful and inspiring Leaf. Best to you and yours in 2010!

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  9. I think I'll steal this phrase as a personal mantra. lovely, piece.

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  10. Thanks everyone for your comments. I've enjoyed reading through them.

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  11. this is sooo...me. Love love love it. started a new spiral to celebrate the new year and I believe aI now have something to go scribble in the front :)

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  12. Dee, so glad you enjoyed it. Like you, I love having a new journal for a new year. :)

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  13. Aw, that is so sweet. It makes me feel inspired to start an art journal of my own. :)

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