Secret Message

Prompt #4 in The Documented Life Project is:  "write a secret message and then paint over all but one word."  Sometimes it feels like the universe is reading my mind.  This was one of those times.  I've been discussing secrets with several family members.  One secret in particular.  Part of which we knew something about, but a lot that has been revealed to my brother and I after our mom's recent death.  Intellectually it is interesting; emotionally, it is heartbreaking.  And although I have mostly negative feelings about family secrets, I have to admit, being a very private person myself, there are few details I'm prepared to make public.  But, it was a good experience for me to take the opportunity afforded me by this week's prompt, to turn it into a journal page.

The larger photo is of my mom and dad, taken around the time they married.  The smaller photo.....well, that pretty much illustrates the secret.

To the right of this page is a tip in that I used to journal on; a page only I will ever see.  Well, you'll see a snippet, just enough to show how I did it.

My mom experienced many challenges and a lot of sadness, but this is what I'm taking from all this:  instead of giving in to grief, she chose life, and went on to live a long and good one.  And had she not made that choice, I wouldn't be here.

BTW, the background (much of which is covered) is a wonderful new technique I learned from Wendy Vecchi.  Click here to see Wendy's video.