Yes cherries! mixed with sweet and tarty, dark and luscious, colorful and overall delightful moments.

 I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t posted a painting in a while? 

I am working on a special painting right now however I am not ready to share as of yet but it is coming together slowly.  While I read through most of the Father’s Day posts yesterday I couldn’t bring myself to write about my dad.  He has been gone a long time and there are years I am able to share a memory or two and smile but this was not one of those days.

 My mom recently had a routine Cataract surgery and although I tried to assure myself that all would be well, I was still uneasy on the day of.  Mom is 80 years old and my best friend.  She is a confidant, teacher, an advisor and one of my biggest fans!  but on this day… right  in front of my eyes she transformed into a young girl whose eyes searched for mine as the time got closer for  her surgery.  She began to tremble uncontrollably and her gentle aged hands could not be steadied.  As the tears began to drop from her eyes I remained strong and tried to assure her that she will be just fine…. it was that exact moment that I wanted my dad to take over.  I wanted him to brush away my fingers and grab hold of her hands, and I wished that he would have been there to assure her that it will be ok. It was difficult to see my mom in this state; an aged body with a youthful soul. She needed more than I could give her in that moment.. she needed my dad.

 As the doctor calmly walked her down that long and unpredictable isle I couldn’t move from that spot. “He should be here for her, he should be here”… the end result is positive she did great!

 So I guess you’re wondering what all of this has to do with cherries right?   Whenever I was sad, afraid, even lonely my dad would bring me a slice of cherry pie with vanilla ice cream to soothe my sorrows.  He wasn’t much of a talker my father but he was a great cook and well…he loved his cherry pie!  If you have this piece of sweetness all your worries will go away… this was his belief and guess what… it worked!   so today even though I am a day late.. I want to honor my dad with cherries, cherry pies, cherry tarts and cherry galette.. I needed to do something to celebrate my dad Panagiotis Kalogeras for Dads day….and I still learn lessons from him even though he is not here to preach them.. Life is like a bowl of cherries, sweet ones, tarty, dark, some are even very diverse, and this is such an enchanted lesson to learn.. because there are good times, dark times, and sweet times… no matter what time it is… he is still standing right beside us, he is by our side as we go through life.. and he helped me to realize that no matter how difficult the day… he isn’t really gone… he is just waiting patiently… for us to remember .. that when the day has brought a memorable moment … just have pie.. cherry pie.!  ..

Oh and  for heaven’s sake don’t forget the Vanilla Ice Cream!..   

Until we meet again,  Katerini