When we go to have my feet altered, operated on, or just checked, Maria makes one of her sketches. She does this whenever I am in a doctor’s office or a hospital. She did this one yesterday when Dr. Daly examined the toe on my left foot that she operated on last week and straightened it out.

All my toes on that foot—the big toe is gone—are straight now, unlikely targets of infection and important helpers in my walking. The reconstruction of my left leg has been a great success so far.

These sketches are the story of our love together, a way that works for her to capture the world and understand it. This is how art is meant to be: a force that explains reality and feeling to the world.

Maria’s sketches tell a lot of different stories. They are a record of our lives.