Her husband had the picture comissioned as a special gift and got back in touch with the artist, Gloria Piniero, who did the pictures for our book. He came up with the idea for the picture himself, as Kristina explains....
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This painting really moved me as it is a picture of all the children lining up to get rid of their Scratchy Monsters, my daughter being one of them not too long ago == an endless line of children and individuals still suffering and in the middle of the TSW storm. As they heal from TSA, they leave their monsters behind in a coral (the coral should have a sign 'ITSAN' over it!) -- where the monsters can no longer torment the children. This painting is kind of closure to the hellish chapter in our life with my daughter now happy and healthy at the end of it all. I couldn't stop staring at the picture.
The girl behind the book stand is my daughter. My husband knows how much I worry about her after everything she went through -- none of us seem get through this experience unscathed (emotionally/mentally) no matter what age, though children definitely seem to be more resilient. The healing process doesn't just end with the physical healing, but continues on with the psychological healing and eventually the piecing back together of one's/family's life. It is a traumatic experience to say the least. He wanted to show me that our daughter is okay -- happy and healthy -- a story she is now sharing with others who are still in search of the answer to their on-going suffering. Perhaps, now I can make some sort of sense of what seemed like such a senseless experience of pain and suffering at the time, turning our lives upside down.
Instead of a lemonade stand, her early childhood led her down a different path which is unique to her life story -- one that has helped shape her into the amazing little girl she is -- one where rather than a lemonade stand, she has book stand with ITSAN's Scratchy Monster book.
Each child has their own unique monster next to them as their withdrawal experience is a little different from one another (of different colors and sizes and shapes) and as they drop their monsters off with their rashy skin, the sky brightens as they begin to heal, emerging from the dark storm. The main character of the book is also getting his copy of the book.
A powerful painting with so much mixed emotion behind it - darkness and sadness, but also one of hope with a happy ending and sunny skies at the other end."
The girl behind the book stand is my daughter. My husband knows how much I worry about her after everything she went through -- none of us seem get through this experience unscathed (emotionally/mentally) no matter what age, though children definitely seem to be more resilient. The healing process doesn't just end with the physical healing, but continues on with the psychological healing and eventually the piecing back together of one's/family's life. It is a traumatic experience to say the least. He wanted to show me that our daughter is okay -- happy and healthy -- a story she is now sharing with others who are still in search of the answer to their on-going suffering. Perhaps, now I can make some sort of sense of what seemed like such a senseless experience of pain and suffering at the time, turning our lives upside down.
Instead of a lemonade stand, her early childhood led her down a different path which is unique to her life story -- one that has helped shape her into the amazing little girl she is -- one where rather than a lemonade stand, she has book stand with ITSAN's Scratchy Monster book.
Each child has their own unique monster next to them as their withdrawal experience is a little different from one another (of different colors and sizes and shapes) and as they drop their monsters off with their rashy skin, the sky brightens as they begin to heal, emerging from the dark storm. The main character of the book is also getting his copy of the book.
A powerful painting with so much mixed emotion behind it - darkness and sadness, but also one of hope with a happy ending and sunny skies at the other end."
Thank you Kristina for sharing your picture with us and giving us hope. Thanks also to your husband and Gloria for working together on the final image.
It is nice to have an image to focus on we we are feeling down. I hope we are all rid of those pesky Scratchy Monsters soon!
1 comment:
Love this so much! <3
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