While I have given Ann roses plenty of times  on past Valentine’s Day, she totally  surprised me with the gift that she got, no make that the gift she had made for me this year: a nice painting of dad and I laughing about something down in Fort Lauderdale before our wedding, one of countless exchanges of goofy humor that he and I found such joy in.

The painting, which was done by a young lady  named Lainey, that Eric met at one of the many theater camps he has attended over the years, took her  just a couple of days to do beginning to end. This talented  woman is the same age as Eric, but I was told by Ann that artistry is her true passion and I can see why: she did a very good job!

I remember being quite, no, make that totally surprised by this colorful piece of art. It never occurred to me that I would ever receive this kind of gift in my lifetime, but you know what, I’m so, so grateful to Annette for setting this all up and to Lainey for doing the painting.

I was so impressed by what was given to me that, just for fun, I decided to ask her- Lainey, not Ann- how long it took her to complete the picture. Her answer: two days! I don’t know about you, but I was impressed! Betty then described to me how other painters, obviously have different styles working fewer days but longer on the days that they do paint. That made sense to me, because I don’t know much at all about art other than when I recognize a real nice, well-done picture and the one that you readers see here was very- skillfully drawn by  Lainey

I’ll finish up this blog by saying thank you  once again to Ann for this painting and Happy Valentine’s Day to you, my dear bride.