REMEMBERING MY FATHER ON THE NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH

WALKING INTO ETERNITY. It is difficult to let one's parent go, even when that parent has left you in death. When my father died, I didn't know how to "hold" onto him. Then I got an opportunity the summer after he died, to attend an "ex-voto" painting workshop at the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA. I decided to commemorate my father by painting him leaving the material world of his accomplishments and going into the vastness of the landscape there in New Mexico. (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Hallelujah to my father, Edward R. Schowalter, who died on November 21, 2003. I was at his side when he breathed his last breath. That experience is so FINITE. 

However, now it is nine years later, and TIME has progressed. I married my Chiboogamoo a year after my father died and have celebrated LIFE and been joyful in my father's absence because that is the responsibility of the LIVING.

I often feel amazed that I didn't get married until I was in my mid-forties. Then I remember the attachment I had to my father, and realized he had filled my life until his death. Dad was a man whose personality was expansive, and he thought in unique ways which were intriguing and not always easy to get along with. I LOVED him greatly.

DAUGHTER ANGEL.  I painted me in the ex-voto, flying over my father, directing his journey into the afterlife. Expressing one's grief through creative acts is consoling. I was comforted by this image of me being with my father after death, ensuring that he wasn't alone. (art by Hallelujah Truth)

Creative acts console. I recommend that everyone acknowledge his/her own creativity, make use of it, and develop it. The fruits of your creative labors will fill your table of need and loss. The fruits of your creative labors will bring you joy, celebration, and friends.

The ex-voto painting is a traditional Mexican style of painting, done to acknowledge or express gratitude to God or a Saint. I am not Catholic, nor can I say I am Christian; however, I can say that I have a strong and sincere reverence for the SPIRIT in each and every one of us. I BELIEVE in expressing gratitude and asking for assistance from the UNIVERSE. So I gained solace in painting this ex-voto of my father and thanking the great mother of the Mexican Catholic church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, for guiding and directing my father's afterlife.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE. She radiates light and love.(art by Hallelujah Truth)

That's Coffee with Hallelujah. SOUL BLOG with me and tell me what you think of my ex-voto painting. Ask me questions about my father so I can remember him. Share memories with me about your parents! And know that we the LIVING are charged with the responsibility to LIVE our lives. 

EX-VOTO FOR MY FATHER.  I have a story to tell you about my ideas that I expressed in this image. But I will have to tell you another TIME. Perhaps next year. I am now charged with the responsibility of the LIVING and must go out in the day after posting this blog entry. LOVE TO YOU ALL, and know that CREATIVITY consoles! (art by Hallelujah Truth)