college

We were professional photographers for a dozen years. During that time we won a lot of awards, and produced some pretty fine photographs. It was exhilerating. We loved it.

It was a team effort we needed each other. But we were young. We could handle the art part of the business, but not the business part. And, this was before cell phones, or answering machines, or computers. It was all hand work.

But our 4th baby was born during this time and Miriam wanted to spend more time with her children, which I agreed was impotant. I couldn’t go on without her, so we hung it up and I went back to laying carpet and tile.

About the time our girls were leaving to go to college or getting married I had gone back to school pretty intently, trying to get a degree completed. She had applied for a job as photographer for a local publishing company. They told her she had the job, but then they didnt call back.

You don’t have that job, I said.

Why don’t you apply for a grant and come to college with me and study art? She thought it over, agreed, the paper work was filed and sooner than usual the grant was approved.

The first day of class I went upstairs during a break to see how she was doing. The 3d studios were on the first floor with painting, illustration and such on the 2nd.

I found he sitting all wide eyed. “These people know how to do this, and they want to teach me." She was like a kid in a candy store.

Before she registered for classes I had a talk with my major professor.

Miriam has been drawing and painting since she was a child, I said, and to make her take freshmen classes is likely to bore her seriously.

Well, said my teacher, register her for junior classes. If she can cut it, fine, but if she can’t she will have to drop back.

It was that expression of wide eyed joy that I discovered on the 2nd floor.

She never did take those freshmen classes. I'll post a photograph of her first ilustration. I was/is beautiful.

I was so proud of her, my buttons almost burst.