“Will you be extra gentle with me and give me extra hugs today and let me need you more?” I asked Ming.
“Yes,” he said.
“Thank you!” I said. I was crying on his back as he was waking up. We were lying in bed, and I was getting his shoulder wet with tears.
If it seems confusing, this September and this birthday is harder than last… Last year was my first birthday without my mom. But this second one is harder because I understand better now what I lost.
homeland
But I made this art to comfort myself, about my mom and my homeland. I really need to go back. It’s not working out to travel there quite yet. But the art helps me feel there in a way. I look at pictures on google and part of me gets activated that needs it.
I drew and cried, cried and drew. Then I showed it to friends online, then to Ming, when he woke up. He liked it.
It’s called “please, pelican.” I see pelicans as sky goddesses. Do you like pelicans? I must admit I’m nuts about them.
The art is an atc, with kelp on the top and shells on the bottom. Do you know these shells? Mussels, abalone, clam, wavy turban. I was so excited to see those, as I played and walked on the shore. Making this art was fun, the kind of fun where you cry a lot.
There are barnacles on one of the mussels, hard to draw so tiny as my pen was not that fine. But I showed my friend, and she said she could recognize them. I was happy.
She lives part time in Baja. She told me some of the shells are the same there, but some more like Hawaii’s shells.
Thank you for seeing my art and understanding me. The wavy turban looks kind of like a birthday hat.
