Day 12 – A prized possession

This was the easiest answer in The Challenge yet. With not even one ounce of hesitation, I can promise that if my place was ever on fire (God forbid), I'd grab this painting and run.

Shortly after I'd decided to leave San Francisco for New York (with a looooooong layover in Spain in between) - I asked my friend Mitch Temple to paint this from a snapshot.  He gladly took on the challenge and promised to have it ready for me when I got back from Barcelona in six months.  I could hardly wait but knew, based on other work of his, that the wait would be well worth it.   (That's the back of my head in the Stills icon.)

A few weeks later my wonderful coworkers from Boys & Girls Clubs took me out for a lil' good-bye shin-dig.  At some point, Jim, our softhearted boss said something like... "Cari, we all love you so much and we just wanted to see if we could make you cry one more time."  He then unveiled the painting, finished ahead of schedule and purchased as a going away gift from the team.  And yes, it had the intended affect.  Not a dry eye in the room.   I obviously love it and cherish it because it's me & my mom.  But I'm also acutely aware of what a lovely thing that was of Jim et al to do and what a treasure it is to also have those people and that time associated with the painting. 

Best. Gift. Ever.

Since then, I've hauled this prized possession from apartment to apartment, city to city, never letting it far from my sight and certainly never locking it up in storage with the rest of my things.  It's always the first thing on the walls when I arrive and the last thing to come down - some proof of that below. 

Everything cleared out from the SF apartment, 'cept for the painting. 
(That's the Closet of Sin in the background for anyone paying attention.)

Before a single other thing was moved into the current Denver apartment.
Was just me, my sleeping bag & the painting for a few days.

It's also fantastic each time someone asks me who the little girl is in the painting with me... and kinda unnerving.  Yes, she was about my age when this photo was taken and yes, we are mirror images one of the other now. 

Just another reason to love it so and to always hang it first, in a place of honor.  Usually somewhere near the door to make it easy to grab on the way out.
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