630 Views as of 14 Feb 2010Back in the mid-1980s, the Tooth Fairy lived in Idaho, and we corresponded regularly. Volunteering in a hospice with end-of-lifetime patients and their families and friends, she was a certified grief counselor, the steady hand that held the devastated up until they could stand again on their own.There are several stages of grief, and my friend often dressed up as a magic fairy to lead her groups- she said it helped break down the walls people put up; a short, brunette, pudgy, middle aged, freckle faced lady in a shimmering, draped gown with a sparkly halo and a magic wand wasn’t very frightening, and she could often reach people through an “If you could be granted any wish. . .” approach.As months and years of dressing in this getup passed, she became more and more comfortable in it, to the point that she once thoughtlessly scheduled a dental visit right after a Grief Counseling session.Not thinking a thing about it she popped into the Dentist’s waiting room, signed in and sat down. It was a small, very rural town and she mostly wore her outfit to her meetings and then changed into jeans and a sweat-shirt right away, but people knew who she was. She was alone in the waiting room for some time, in her gossamer gown, her magic wand, and crown.When her name was called and she toddled back to the inner sanctum, she found that treatment area was the one at the farthest end of the clinic, and as she started to rustle down the way behind the other patients, she noticed some rustling in the little cubicles, then the office was suddenly filled with choruses of, “Mom, Mom! LOOK! It’s the _Tooth Fairy!”_ All the other patients were children, and a few had spotted her and given voice.Thinking quickly, she reached into her pocket and found a tissue- and some change. So at each little treatment cubicle she stopped, gave each child a Tooth Fairy Blessing, knighted the child with her wand and gave a bit of change to each one depending upon the child’s age. With empty pockets but full heart she finally made it, glowing with pure joy, into her own treatment chair.“I’ve never had so much fun at the dentist’s in all my life,” she told me in a letter that evening.® Dayonda 09 Nov 2008

Mounted Print

576 views as 16 Dec 2009
Drawn in Corel Painter Essentials 4, lit by Light Artist.
EXPERIMENTAL because this is the first from-scratch painting in CPE I did.


Thank you very much, IMAGE WRITING!

I knew Aunt Lois in Nevada, wrote to her when she lived in Idaho, and finally drew her picture after I moved here to Washington State. With her sister Effie, I had two women I loved and learned about life from!