I just found out that fellow artist and blogger Cindy Woods passed away in November of this year. You can see the drawings she made near the end of her journey here. Blessings and peace to you Cindy, this flower is in your honor.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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this is so sad, thank you for bringing it to our attention. peace and freedom from pain cindy.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful flower of honor, Willie...
ReplyDeleteLooks like the sky has another star to guide us along the way...may she rest in peace.
~Jett
What a sad but touching story. Thank you for allowing even more of us to feel connected with Cindy. And what a blessing she left with her drawings and letters.
ReplyDeleteLife is rich and wonderful and too short.
Oh how sad. I did not know Cindy, but I just lost a young, vibrant friend to cancer at Thanksgiving time also. Seems like it's the people who are most alive that often pass so young.
ReplyDeleteMighty fine drawing tribute to a mighty fine artist.
ReplyDeleteI found out recently too and was saddened by the news. That's a great flower design in her memory.
ReplyDeletebeautiful tribute x
ReplyDeleteFrom Ronda to Cindy:
ReplyDelete"You've navigated through life the way that you navigated a New York sidewalk, with courage and confidence and eagerness to get to the next interesting thing, mindful of potholes, and with a clear vision of where you were headed. Your steady determination and thoughtfulness has been an ongoing inspiration to me."
A letter to me from Chris B., a good friend of Cindy's:
ReplyDeleteWillie,
I hope all's well with you. I'm sorry you're just learning of Cindy's passing. Walt Taylor and I went up to Richmond and visited Cindy just two days before she died. (I have the dubious distinction of being the last thing/person she drew.) We'd been warned she might not be up to having visitors. But instead she carried on a lively conversation with us for just over an hour. We laughed. We told stories. We cried. Cindy and Walt drew. Cindy kept trying to give books, drawings and other things to us she didn't think her family would have any use for or understanding of. She was very apologetic about her drawing that day, chuckling that she couldn't quite get all the wrinkles in my face. But while she was drawing I could see that she was at least temporarily distracted from her physical condition, and that made anything she drew worth the while.
Cindy chose not to have feeding tubes and other stuff that would have prolonged her life. Like the way she lived, she chose to die on her own terms. Given the energy she summoned for our visit, we had no idea she would die as soon after our visit as she did.
There was a very sweet memorial service the following week at The Virginia Home, attended by hundreds of friends, family and fellow Home residents. The Virginia Home serves people with "irreversible" conditions, mostly brain injuries, congenital disorders, physical handicaps, etc. Many residents are not verbal at all, or are difficult to understand. But the stories they told of their friendship with Cindy that day were all sweet and clear.
Best,
Chris