September 10th 2023

This weekend I had the chance and made the time to swing by Charle’s Kapsner’s little studio. A couple of months ago when I met him at the Minnesota Military Museum to see the painting for the first time on display and get all the artifacts he used for the painting, well the two of us forgot one key thing. We forgot the gun. I found it funny because neither Charles or myself are gun people. It’s just not our thing. But my husband on the other hand, he is a gun person, and right away when I got home and he helped me unload things, he asked, “Where’s the gun?” oops.

On a bright summer day that is just turning into fall day I stopped by the studio. It felt good to step back into the dimly lit space that has a light smell of turpentine. It was odd to not see the artifacts set up in the painting display box and to not have the painting on the easel being enhanced and beautified. Instead, there were new things in those places. Since completing “The Best of Him” Charles has been painting more living things. A couple of beautiful flower settings and a lovely sunset on the Mississippi River. The finished paintings are stunning and so life-like. He will be showing them in the upcoming fall show in October and November.

The meeting also gave us the chance to catch up on the shows he plans to enter the Best of Him painting in over the next year. It seems like the more people we share this with, the more chance it has of connecting with others in some way. I don’t know how to explain it. Here is an example, Charles received an email from someone who drove up from Minneapolis after her friend sent her a photo of the painting. She just knew she had to see it for herself, in person. She was so touched by the story and the painting. It really is touching to think that my story can connect with someone else’s story and journey. Maybe that is the whole point. My dad would often point out to me that so many things are connected in ways you just can’t see but need to trust. He lived his life that way, treating each decision with great respect and thought, knowing that it would create ripples that he couldn’t even know about until they happened. He was a wise and insightful person and I miss him often.

This journey with my grief continues to unfold, like the flowers Charles has been painting in his most recent works.

And, in case you are wondering, I did remember to put the gun in its case into the car this time before we said goodbye and headed off to our busy days.