Most of you know that our family recently adopted a sweet rescue Wheaten terrier puppy named Win-Win, who’s pretty much become the focus of our lives over the past month. You’re also aware she was at the center of my nasty 3 a.m. fall April 26 that resulted in a clean break of my right femur just below the hip joint.
But before Win came along, there was our wonderful Maisy. A terrier mix we rescued in January 2009, Maisy was part of our family for 15-plus years before we had to say goodbye to her in March, a few months before she would’ve turned 18.
Late on Saturday, April 6, we received a UPS delivery. It was a box from my longtime friend Mark Stevens, whom I’ve known since the start of my freshman year at Conroe High School in late summer 1974, when I was a shy, introverted 13-year-old. I’m pretty sure we met the first day of classes, when students were gathered in the freshman annex cafeteria waiting for the bell to head to our homerooms.
Knowing Mark like I do, I figured the box contained some kind of sci-fi/fantasy-related loot, since he’s always been all about that genre and its countless iterations. I’ve known it from the day we met, when we learned we were fellow Trekkies. When it comes to sci-fi, Mark left me light-years behind long ago, but I still try to keep up to a very small extent, in part because our 22-year-old is into the same stuff.
But I was way off about the contents of the box from Mark. On our kitchen island, I unsealed it to find an envelope with his very recognizable all-uppercase writing that said we should open it first. Inside was a card with this wonderful note:
“We were so sorry to hear about Maisy, because we know how that feels. I hope that this isn’t too pretentious, but I thought that, perhaps, I could give you something to remember her by. The enclosed portrait of Maisy is based on a few photos that were posted on Facebook. I hope that the painting does Maisy justice and that it brings you smiles & good memories of her. Always, Mark”
Already moved by Mark’s incredibly kindhearted gift without even having seen it — and knowing what a talented painter he is from his artwork postings on Facebook — I quickly called Kay into the kitchen and we carefully unwrapped the object below the card.
The moment we saw Maisy’s perfectly replicated face staring back at us, we were both overtaken with emotion at the oil painting’s absolute beauty and how Mark had not only flawlessly captured our sweet Maisy but had gifted us a tangible, forever memory of her.
We immediately took down from the wall by our patio door a cherished portrait of Kay and me that was taken in the fall of 1994, just a couple of months after we married, and we put Maisy in that special spot instead. Then we called Mark for a special phone chat, thanking him for his thoughtfulness and catching up a bit on family news.
For almost 50 years, I’ve known what an exceptional human being Mark is, in every way a person possibly can be. But a gesture like this further exemplifies his goodness — not to mention his undeniable artistic genius. He’d probably tell me that’s too strong a word, but if you saw some of his other paintings, you’d wholeheartedly agree.
Mark, our family’s gratitude for what you’ve done for us in Maisy’s memory is overflowing. Our hearts thank you with all sincerity and love. ❤️
A Life of Words 