For Maria, there is no boundary between art and life. She has a vision for our bedroom, and although she goes to great pains to consult me, my mind doesn’t work like hers, and I trust her to figure out the colors, to bring the vision in her head to life.

She painted the walls and ceiling green, and the room – once framed by fading old  wallpaper – is warm, cozy, intimate and restful, as she wished. She is not studying the walls to see what should go up on them. She keeps asking me which paintings and photographs I would like, but my Dyslexic mind doesn’t work that way, I can’t remember anything that I can’t see right in front of me.

And my visions are very different.

The other day, she pulled these curtains out of some secret vault she has somewhere, and she hung them up on the windows. They are beautiful, graceful, a creative note all of their own. Like our living room, dining room and bathroom, Maria has waved her magic want and turned our bedroom into something that is ours, that reflects us, that rests and inspires us.

I appreciate that she keeps asking me what I think, but the best I can do is stand aside and let her wave her magic want.

Monday is Maria’s birthday, and I am taking her away for our usual one-day retreat on her birthday. Long vacations are not in the picture for us now, there is so much to do here. On Friday, I’m meeting with officials from the Albany Academy to see about getting Eh K’Pru a full scholarship there.

Monday, I’ll be missing my second acting class, we made the birthday plans long before I was in the class. This afternoon, I’m going to see the new Laurel and Hardy inspired movie, Stan And Oliver. Before that, I’ll stop at the Danforth Adult Care Center and give Art his new wristwatch. He loves to keep track of the time.