Lifebook 2015 Week 44 Tree of Life and Death

As I sat in my studio listening to the moaning of our 18 year old do who is in 'hospice' in my studio because she can't get up and down the stairs to the house and has no bodily function control, I painted.  This week's lesson was titled "Reach for the Stars" with Jenny Wentworth.  But all I could do was think about Chi Chi.  I listened to her in pain and thought about all of my memories with her.  I tried not to cry.  I talked to a couple of friends about the grief I was feeling and how to decide when it was time to have her put to sleep or just make her comfortable until she passes.  I painted all of the beautiful flowers thinking about these things.  As a family, we decided that it was time.  The decision, and the thought of loss for our beloved pet of 18 years, weighed heavily in my heart.  But it is time.  For Chichi.  So I dedicate this piece, not to reaching for the stars myself, but to the memory- the life and death- of Chi Chi.  There is beauty in both.