Here and Now Then and There

Last year several very dear friends died and I want to honour them in this post.
Firstly a painter and educator Tony Vevers on Cape Cod. He was vital in Provincetown and the art scene there for decades as well as wherever he taught. He was a great inspiration and a lovely presence. I am glad I have contact with his daughter Tabitha still, who is also a very interesting painter.
Later and very suddenly a friend Eugenia Butler died in Northern California. Eugenia was a unique human being, with a curious and inquisitive mind like I have never met before.To say that she was an artist does not fully satisfy. Life was her palette and all the people she met. Her daughter Corazon del Sol was very brave and courageous as she contacted all of her mothers friends around the world with the sad news while she herself was mourning and organising everything. I think of her very often.Corazon do get in touch if you wish.
Come April Arturo Vivante died, also on Cape Cod. He had been ill for a while but still the news brought a great sense of loss and a void. Arturo a writer and teacher but mostly a very dear friend, a very kind and gentle man.
He introduced Italy to me and for this I am so grateful. He taught me Italian words and exactly how to pronounce them. Those beautiful sounds. When I finally went to Italy to start another phase of my life, it is also where I fell in love. Grazie mille Arturo!
So with these losses and the void felt, I have also found that I appreciate my living friends and family so much more. Does it take loss to know what you have? Despair to know joy? I think I take far too much for granted and simply forget how precarious our time is here. Say the positive and vital things out loud in the here and now.
That is what I have learned. Thank you friends.