One Woman's Trash Is Another Woman's Savior

Two hours into the sale and only ten dollars richer, a woman with her 2-year-old son in a stroller passed by and stopped when she saw the painting. She picked it up and asked how much I wanted for it.

I said, "How does $5.00 sound?" She gasped and said she couldn't believe she was getting such a deal on an obvious original oil painting. I told her I wasn't really selling it for the artwork, but rather the canvas.

Then she asked "Do you know who painted this?" Embarrassed, I said, "Umm, well, I did." She was amazed and insisted that I sign the painting. As I fumbled around looking for a brush and some oil paint, she began to tell me that her son had a rare form of blood cancer and that he and she would soon be moving to Canada where hopefully he could receive medical treatment that was not available here in the U.S. There was so much discouragement in her voice, but she worked hard to keep a brave smile on her face.

Delighted to see my signature on the painting of the colorful flowers, she gave me $5. Then, she held the painting up in the air, squinted her eyes and tilted her head one way, then the other, as if she were at home, eyeballing the wall and deciding where to hammer the nail.

She then said to me, "This painting makes me so happy. I will hang it in my kitchen where I can see it all the time." I told her how much of an honor it was to sell her my very first painting. We exchanged telephone numbers and I asked her to keep in touch with me and let me know about her son, Alex.