02/05/2023
Hello, I'm Mary. Ever since I can remember, I have been blessed with the ability to show beauty through arts and crafts. I have a passion to create what goes on inside my head and have a whole home full of my own personalization. I was blessed to be able to carry my talent into my workplace as well.
Once I found my passion to become a teacher, everyone always asked why I didn't become an art teacher. I felt my calling was for a classroom of my own to inspire children with my creativity in the regular learning environment. It's amazing how many children's creativity was sparked once they saw what I could do! I spent over 20 years in the classroom and it was an amazing experience!
However, in the summer of 2022, I was admitted to the hospital after having a week long stroke. The first signs of the stroke were choked off to being allergies when I felt my tongue was swollen. My daughter and I were at Hobby Lobby where I was picking out the rest of the materials needed to make my very first grandchild's quilt. Sadly, that will have to wait until a later time.
After the scans were done, they told me I had previously had a stroke that I didn't know about. I was most likely in denial. The doctors kept me in the main hospital for what seemed like forever before I was able to moved to the rehab center. Things were looking up! I got my speech back, my body was starting to work properly. Then one weekend after eating some chicken salad with raw onions, I had another stroke. No, I'm not saying the chicken salad was the cause! There's more to the story, but we won't go there. This set me way back and I lost all ability to use my right arm. This is my dominate arm and the slow journey to utilize my left side began.
This seemed hopeless since it was weak and I didn't use it much on a regular basis. However, I was determined to do what I could with it. As for my art, I didn't see any chance of me being able to create anything anytime soon. I desperately wanted to paint. One of my friends got me some anointed oil and prayed over me. She thanked God that I would be able to paint again and within a week or so, I was creating art again! It started out very sloppy, but I did not let this stop my progress.
Today, I am creating all kinds of beautiful works of art with watercolors, acrylics, markers and paint pens. It's exciting to know that once my right arm is back in order, I'll be creating art wiht both hands!
Thank you for reading my story and I hope you'll enjoy the artwork I'm creating. My daughter is helping me set up places to sell my art so that anyone who is interested can own a piece of my heart!
