DAY 17 - AN ART PIECE (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)

I don't know what it was titled, but here is a sculpture (pictured along with its sculptress) for my Day 17 entry.

Sculptress was a semi-regular customer of mine for some time, always with her boyfriend in tow; but like many of my regular customers, she stopped coming in after a time. I usually remark it to myself after noticing that I hadn't seen a particular person in a while and tend to leave it at that. It was only after I had seen a flier for a "Sculptress Benefit" that I learned that she had died on September 29, 2007. Searching on the internet led to additional information from her friends. It turns out she had committed suicide.

I remember feeling disturbed by that news. I also remember seeming rather odd that her death would affect me at all seeing as how she was, at best, a peripheral character in my life. But I think it was because of her limited context with me that led me to feel her passing so acutely whereas for others in my life who have died, they remain on in memories, in their objects, etc. so that they are never truly, truly gone. She always smiled and said hello to me and was one of the few people in my life who, when she said she was glad to see me or be talking to me again or anything of that nature, I’d actually believe. Not many people can claim such a distinction, especially for someone who was essentially a regular customer. I remember the last time I saw her, she paid with a credit card for "Sculptress Designs". I was gonna ask her about that the next time I saw her but I never would get the opportunity.

It makes me wonder about the WW2 veteran who told us about the tattoo he had gotten the day of the Pearl Harbor attack that I haven't seen in over a year, the cute girl who wore entirely too much perfume I haven't seen since 2003, the old couple who yelled at me when I balked at one of their absurd requests (didn't refuse to do it, just balked), and even the girl with the worst bleach-blond hair ever who bought enemas nightly. ^_^

(originally posted to That Other Journal on January 3, 2010)

ADDENDUM: I actually saw the cute girl (who's actually about three years my senior) just the other night for the first time in all these years.  Turns out she graduated with one of my cousins. Small world. I didn't notice any strong perfume so maybe she had given that up. She was surprised I had remembered her name. I was surprised I recognized her. (March 31, 2014 : I wonder why I haven't been including dates in my addenda? Something for the future I suppose...)