By Andrea Tadpole-Broussard
12/22/23
I am so grateful for the gift of creativity that my Creator gave me. I believe that it is one of the vehicles I can use to live my life's purpose and help others, especially my family who I love deeply.
A few weeks ago my granddaughter Courtney asked me to do a painting for her. It had to have an elephant, the tree of life and sunshine in it. Courtney is a very deep thinker so I asked her what those things symbolized to her. She told me that she was going through a really hard time and that she wanted to be able to look at the painting and see hope in it. She said that the Tree of Life symbolized hope and she just loves elephants. The fact that she wanted it to symbolize something excited me because I love symbolism. I believe there are hidden messages all through life. I just have to be willing to slow down and pay attention to the symbols around me.
I attend a self improvement type group called LOYT aka Life On Your Terms. I made a commitment to myself and LOYT to spend a few hours a week doing something creative. So, I took some time tonight to sketch out what will eventually be Courtney's painting. I gave her a sneak peek of it over the phone tonight. She loved it and she got what the hidden messages were. That makes my heart happy!!
I am sure the painting will be quite different from this sketch; but the overall layout will be what is there now. Here is how I described it to her.
The smaller elephant represents Courtney and the larger elephant is her mother. I told her I just could not put only one elephant in the painting. It had to be two. That is because when I feel the most hopeless, I feel all alone. I wanted to remind her that she is never alone. Her mother's love will always be there and she will never leave her.
Both elephants have broken tusks. This represents the disappointments and heartache we go through in life. Yet, like the elephant we survive and stay strong when we hold on to each other. The love we share will carry us through the worst things in life as long as we stay connected.
The sunshine peaking between the tree limbs behind them symbolizes me and the love I have for them. Just like the sun, I will always be there even when my old body is gone. My spirit will never leave because that is how deep my love is for the two of them and the rest of our family.
The crow is a nod to my father, Courtney's great-grandpa. He is in Heaven now watching over and protecting us. Just like the birds keep the bugs off of an elephant's back, her great-grandpa is ever-present and still has our backs too.
The tree of life has very deep roots. We usually do not see how deep the roots are under the ground beneath a tree. Yet, they are there and serve as the foundation of the beautiful life growing above the ground. The roots symbolize the lessons our parents, grandparents and even our ancestors have taught us. They also represent the values that we live by such as Faith, Hope, Love, Integrity, Honesty, Courage and so on. The tree that grows above the ground is the expression of what one cannot see below the ground. It is the manifestation of who we are meant to be and the life we live with others.
Courtney is my youngest granddaughter. She is an old soul like me. If people truly lived other lives, I am certain we knew eachother in a previous one. We are alot alike in how we view the world. Of course, she is beautiful on the outside, however, her spirit on the inside is absolutely gorgeous!
She has no idea what she has unlocked inside my heart with her request of me to paint. I have not drawn much or painted at all since I graduated art school in 2005. I stopped painting after not be able to complete a portrait of my granddaughter Zoey who died. Since then, I have felt like I lost the music I needed to sing through my painting. Today, finally, I will not let my music die inside of me!!
Thank you my beautiful Courtney for having the key to unlock my heart. I will always love you more!! 💜💜💜
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