I had encouraged (guest) artist Kim to create a gratitude list of names of the people who had been present to/for/with her family during the murder trial for their (deceased) teenage son. In the middle of the horrific experience many people had come to sit in the courtroom and be an encouragement. In the middle of the tragedy, it is helpful (and healing) to identify and name grace present. Using letters to individually stamp the names is slow and tedious, but it also is in the tedium that it is possible to identify and experience the blessing that is present. On another day of waiting in the victim's room at the courthouse, she expressed a prayer for her (only surviving) son as he sat in the courtroom and listened to all the testimony. She drew around her hand in white crayon as an extension of her hand holding this son's hand. She used her deceased son's two favorite colors (red and purple) to express her feelings during the long day of waiting. After the verdict was rendered, she collaged the pieces onto an existing journal page for follow up reflection at a future time.
