There was this girl who was very sick. So sick she couldn’t stand or walk, all she could do was lie in bed and depend on others to take her from one minute to the other. After many months of care, the girl’s doctor told her family that there was nothing else he could do. She had a terminal illness that would eventually kill her. The best the family could do, the doctor advised, was to make her last days on earth as good as possible.
The family was so sad, she was a lovely and friendly girl who loved life... how could this happen to her they all cried...
Every day friends and neighbours of the sick girl came to visit. And they all always left her room crying. Everyone was sad.
And every day, each member of her family took turns in keeping vigil over her; they wanted to be with her when she took her last breath.
One day the sick girl had a visitor, it was her friend, who was an artist, who lived downstairs. He held her hands and listened to her speak. The sick girl pointed at a tree growing on the wall outside her window and she told him that every time a leaf fell, she became worse. She said when the last leaf fell that’s when she’ll die. The same story she told everyone that came to visit her.
The following day, the artist went to the tree, he picked a leaf and started painting on it. He painted in the morning, he painted at night. He painted when it was cold; he painted when it was hot. He painted in the rain, he painted in the sun. He painted through seasons, he painted tirelessly. He kept painting until there was nothing left to paint. And then he painted some more.
Many months passed and the sick girl didn’t die, instead she got better. Soon she was bouncing off her bed and playing once more. Everyone was happy and they all called her recovery a miracle.
It was a miracle indeed! You see, every leaf on that tree fell except the one the artist painted on. That leaf never fell, no wind was strong enough to fall it. So the girl lived!
The artist is that person who never gives up on you even when you give up on yourself.
He sees the best in you even when you see nothing at all
He loves you even when you don't love yourself.
The artist is that person who will make you see the truth when you are surrounded by lies and will stand by you through everything. He's your strenght when you're weak, your voice when you can't speak, your eyes when you can't see. He'll never let you fall no matter how hard it is to hold you up. And everytime you loose your faith, he will give it back to you.
The artist prays for you...before he prays for himself.
We all have family and friends but how many of us can truly say we have 'the artist' in our lives? Does 'the artist' even exist some of you will wonder. He does. Just look around you...He could your mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, child, friend, lover...he could be anyone! Really look around you.
When you find 'the artist', you will find another reason for living.
I've found mine, hope you find yours
~Linda
