Thank You to all the Amazing Women in my Life

Thank You

In light of Mothers Day the last post was about my mom, but what about all the other women that helped me out so much along the way? A truly telling dedication to these women would take much more than this and the list of names would be a much longer one. But as a quick Thank You for Mother's Day it will definitely do and simultaneously it sums up my life in a nutshell prior to arriving in Canada Vancouver to study Art. Pretty neat. So thank you to All the amazing women that have supported me thus far. Here are just a few of them. 

Oma
My childhood was an odd one due to my mothers ongoing struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. There were times when she would simply be gone one day only to return weeks and sometimes months later. We had no idea where she went when this happened. She always made sure to tell me that she loved me and that this would be for the best but still, I wouldn't have my mother around for long stretches of time. We were living with my grandmother who would then, along with my mom's sister and Ilse, an artist  and friend of the family, take care of me.

Ilse
Ilse has always been like family to me. She was and still is a friend of my mothers my aunts and myself. I always loved going over to her apartment.  She had beautiful paintings and prints hanging all throughout her magical living space that was also filled with art materials which I was often allowed and encouraged to try out.

Funny Aunt
My mothers sister Liselotte lived in Germany but often went to visit her many children in the United States. Two times she brought me along on her visits. I got to fly by myself when I was about 8 years old to meet my Aunt in Boston and then go off on all sorts of adventures. We often stayed at my cousin Nan's house. They had two big cats named Zeus and Pluto and I had the time of my live checking out all sorts of stuff and working on my English.

Nan
Later on my mothers condition worsened and I moved to Boston to live with my cousin Nan. She and her husband had just had their first child. I was twelve years old. My cousin and her husband who'd had no children prior to this, all of a sudden had a baby and a teenager. Up to this day I still don't know where I would be today if my cousin wouldn't have offered to take me in. I think it was an amazing thing to do and even though I've told her this more than once I still don't think that I can ever really express this in a way that would be adequate. Thank you Nan! You are amazing and I'll never forget what you did for me.

Karen
But it wasn't all pie. At first everything was great, but then my real teens kicked in and things weren't good at all. I just couldn't seem to get along with my cousin and her husband anymore. Just before I really couldn't take it anymore I was offered by one of my best friends moms Karen to move into their basement suite. I remember immediately after moving in, feeling so much freer and at times staying up all night drawing and painting. I had just started to discover a whole new passion for creating art, a whole new world opened up to me.