Lindsay and Adisa

OilMan and I have often spoken of how the arc of our life together was so different from that of his sister, Sharon. He was the favored son, the "smart" one, destined to go to a fine college and live a proper (according to his parents) life. She was the black sheep of the family, artistic and inclined to wander off track (as we saw it) because of what we always referred to as her "fuzzy logic". We married young and had kids early, she lived the footloose artist's life in San Francisco and New York, marrying late in life and having Lindsay when she was over 40.

Our lives finally intersected when she began visiting us from her home on the East Coast every summer, bringing her two young daughters with her. We went on trips together, hung out together, and she taught us how to draw sitting around a big table in our back yard--kids, teenagers and grown-ups all concentrating on drawing each other and what we saw around us. She was a wonderful teacher and taught me that you don't have to have a special gift to learn how to look at something and draw it. We set up a "gallery" in our breakfast room. and admired our combined body of work over dinner.

Sharon died much too soon when Lindsay was a high school senior. It was her wish that Lindsay go to Mills, a liberal arts college in Oakland and her Alma Mater. where she would be close to us. Lindsay lived with us her senior year at Mills and met Adisa during that time. Their mutual interest in music proved to be a lasting attraction and they were married (by my brother) in 2008. Their wedding, in the yard of his mother's home was a memorable event. (I took a picture of a notice posted next to a little fountain that said, "Don't drink the water--fish crap in it...")

They moved to South Carolina a few years ago, and came to visit us last night, fighting their way through the Friday afternoon commute to spend the evening with us. In the interests of full confession, and to explain the reason why they both look like they are behind a screen, they were, sort of. I won't explain my sleight of hand further, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. They are a striking couple and I wanted to post their picture..