Good Grief

A riff on the family’s Blue Danube dishes.

If you’ve been there, you know all too well the kite without a string thing that comes with a good bye you weren’t (or never would be) ready for. Who could be? Or maybe even one you’ve never spoken of out loud. Art helps.

I am now first in line. The oldest survivor of the clan. Things like random dishes from a previously complete china pattern remain. I’ve decided to use them as artsy inspiration. A photo. A letter. A tea cup saucer. A box of buttons. Something about this doodle project feels right. So I’m going to keep it up. Until I don’t want to or need to do it anymore.

If you’re grieving, maybe turn to art. I don’t believe you’ll regret it at all.

A stack of what remains of Blue Danube is pictured here. A pattern so ingrained in my being I’m finding that I don’t really need a dish for reference. So many meals. The sound of Daddy’s voice. All of us talking at once. Dogs that got lucky when we didn’t want any more peas. Family times I thought, at one juncture or another, would go on forever. Served up on Blue Danube. Drawing this pattern is like finding a language for the things I don’t know how to articulate with traditional dictionary jargon. If you’re there, I recommend you doodle the dishes. It might just be exactly what you need.

The arrow? Such an interesting pattern, really. Sort of trippy, right?

Sometimes, we just use them for tea. That often feels kinda healing too.