P's Story

This story is told from the perspective of our sister, P.  It is related to family struggles, mental health issues and addiction in loved ones, custody of her grandson and how she is surviving it all.  If you are interested in the mosaic heart healing process please reach me and I will get you in touch with P and the group (located in The Woodlands, Texas).

January, 2017

Christmas 2016 ~ Years ago before my girls were born, out antiquing I purchased a Christmas plate of a sweet little blonde boy. After my two sweet brown-haired girls were born, I always laughed a bit when I'd set out the plate year after year. This year when I unwrapped the plate, the tears welled up.  That little boy… my grandson... was now hanging on my aging and worn out hip in all his wild, blonde-haired glory.   I took him with me to set out the plate. As I was reaching to set the plate on the shelf, that beloved boy knocks the plate out of my hand, and it breaks on the carpet in 3 pieces. I honestly wanted to sit and cry, as it felt so much like my life of brokenness.  But then I remembered a special group I'm in where we take broken china and turn its brokenness into beauty in the form of a mosaic heart.  Never a more perfect example!  My plate that I can't help but see God's work in for the last 25 years will now become an ornament on my tree, forever reminding me of beauty through brokenness... truly the theme of 2016 at our house.   I took my broken pieces to our workshop… both the china and those of my heart…. and made a new beautiful ornament.   From that first workshop, I left a beautiful piece to look at but still one needing some work after the china sets to dry.  As I left, there was some new drama emerging within our family, and I knew my human heart was going to get messy again too… plus add in some colds for the whole house (but we all know the physical ailments are way easy than the emotional!)…. but just major dark muck.  I returned the next week to “the garage” to throw some mess (the grout) on my mosaic ornament heart.  I got to sit in peace, in community with supportive friends, and smooth out the grout and polish the tiles a bit, and the beauty came through again.  Again, there before me, was so much parallel to my life and the events of the previous week.  I have to continuously polish the tiles to see the beauty fully.  I hope you get the opportunity to receive the healing that comes from creating an art piece that can truly work you through a struggle in your life.   This is a great place to create, a great community to talk to, or just create alongside in needed silence…. you are not alone here!

Finished "broken" hearts

Beloved Christmas Plate

P– daughter to my amazing parents, wife to my beloved husband of 30 years, mother to two smart beautiful daughters, custodial parent to my precious wild blonde-haired grandson

~~and “tough lover” to my daughter - mother to my grandson - who struggles with mental illness and battles addiction each and every day…. for her I will fight for the cause until the day my human heart stops beating.   This heart can take a lot of breaking before it quits fighting for the one she loves~~