We went to a framer in Vermont to get the watercolor by Carolyn Gale from New Zealand framed. Next door was the Chocolotarium, a wondrous chocolate and candy shop. As I came out, I said to  Maria, “I think I need to take a photo of Judy,” who is a formidable co-owner of the place.

Maria and I go through this all the time, I reach in to get my camera, she either takes out a sketch pad or finds a quiet place to sit, in this case by a beautiful Vermont stream. I loved the image, this is one of the things that makes me love Maria so much.

In my mother love, someone I loved and respected looked at me in exasperation one day and said, “why do you have to take so many photos? Can’t you just take a few?”

Not once in these years has she ever been irritated, rolled her eyes, urged me to hurry, looked exasperated by this obsessive need I have to take pictures of the things that touch me and my life.

We have this understanding: creativity is sacred, it comes first.

I do the same for her. There is not much more important than her getting in her studio to create, I never begrudge or get annoyed it.

How lucky I am, I said as I came out of the Chocolotarium, to be able to be who I am.

We respect and love each other and we let each other be who we need to be. That is a precious gift, the foundation of love as well as creativity.