A couple of days ago I started to create this post, but was not able to get through it...

My Dad was the most centering, grounding, and influential person in my life.  A strict yet always loving father who pointed out right from wrong, and then allowed me to learn through my own decision-making.  I do owe my strength in staying true to myself to him. 

My Dad could do anything with great skill - I remember looking at a few paintings on our wall when I was very little, and marveling that he had painted them, landscapes and seascapes so realistic and beautiful. He tired of them at some point, and gave them away - how I wish I still had them!  He was also a ceramist, a sculptor, a vocalist, a carpenter, fixer-of-any-broken-thing...all of these hobbies while he worked to keep his family safe and comfortable.

I picked out my SunBlast and Ocean Night paintings for this group because I think that as a mariner with love for Nature and Light,  he would like these.  I wish I could give them to him in person - we lost him a little over two years ago, so it is still at once painful and comforting, to talk about and remember all he was and all he did.

Thank you for creating this group, and for inviting us to this discussion.

Love & Light,

Roxy R.