A poem goes with the art:

Leaves moist from rain, soon
Rises up the harvest moon.
A warm mug of tea, a sweater, wool socks,
Time to read and to pray. - Nancy Lee 2005

My father had surgery in 2003, suffered complications, and tried to recover for seven long months in the hospital. I often wondered how he kept on trying. The evening following Dad’s death, through the mercy of God or by a nudge from Dad’s spirit, I heard a description that was like a key to unlock the mystery of Dad’s persistence in trying to get well. Horatio’s Drive: America’s First Road Trip came onto public television. In 1903, with dirt roads and sometimes no roads, a man named Horatio set off from California to drive an early-model car to New York. Horatio (like my dad) was an optimist, thinking his cup was half full instead of half empty, even when it was only a quarter full. Undaunted, seeing each obstacle as the last one, he believed, “If I can only get over this setback, it will be smooth sailing.”

I think often about the remarkable people I met while in the hospitals with Dad. If the kindness and care of the nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, and cleaning staff were only glimmers of God’s love for us - how great God’s love and compassion may be. Before painting, I worked as a registered nurse. My sister continues to work as a hospice nurse, in a profession I admire with all my heart. I hope my art brings a smidgen of the goodness and hope that nurses bring.