Dear Adrian …

Do you believe in belonging to someone having not met them? Feeling you can easily talk to a stranger because you don’t have to overexplain yourself. For those who have experienced, it can attest to the ease one has around them. The group of people or a person who you click with, understanding each other’s point of view because you share it too. This is what May had found with Adrian and his small, neat ‘family’. Over a period of exchanging letters that communicated the ideas they shared in life over art collection and books, it was clear they had to meet. Put a face to the words that depicted a renowned individual and a story of how a dinner could birth a decade bond. May as an art collector, her interests were what crossed paths with Adrian, a young man who was part of an art club that took time every week to discuss the message various artists tried to communicate through their talents. On that Friday morning, having flown in from London to be part of one their meetings, felt like the home she had been searching for, May could not hold the excitement as she shared her thoughts about Rembrandt art pieces especially the one that was center stage in the gallery, ‘The woman taken in adultery’. The description brought to the floor during the club meeting really impressed the members especially Adrian.
That whole week May took the time to understand the history of the world Adrian had groomed in and why they started the club. She got to discover, initially, it was a way to take their mind from the war happening around them but later it brought them closer than being neighbours who knew each other by name. It was from the chaos that true friendship was born and having stumbled upon a book with her address in it was the beginning of their worlds clashing. During her art collection journey, she had definitely learned a thing or two from the likes of Picasso which was what helped her come up with a piece to add in her studio from her adventures in Vermont. As she drew inspiration from a piece of their life story, she felt a connection regardless of being from totally separate worlds. Even with the constant communication with her fiancé, it was not the same. Having postponed her wedding more than twice you’d think she would have figured out her heart was somewhere else, let alone her not wearing the engagement ring as accustomed.

She soon went back to London for work but she could never shake off the feeling that filled her in Vermont as she sat through the club meetings she attended from the talk of masterpieces to the reading of the same. The sound of the ocean waters hitting the cliff was like a soothing lullaby in the busy city life she was used to. With her free time, she would spend it with John, her fiancé, in ballroom gatherings which sometimes made her feel out of place. Though dancing was her second love, she didn’t seem to move to the beat just right. In time she quickly realized things were no longer the same, it was time for her to live her truth and it meant ending it with John. She knew her shared love was for the time they spent not the person he was, and the latter is where Adrian fit like a glove. She later finished the painting she had started working on in her time in Vermont and for the first time wanted it viewed by someone else other than her studio walls. As she mailed it to Adrian and his club, she could not help but accompany it with a letter expressing her time with them and the change they had on her. It read,

To Caleb, Josey, Christopher, Phoebe, and Adrian, first I would like to say I am sorry. If you are reading this, I would like to thank you. For a spark was lit during our encounter. First, I am sorry for my deafening silence and unceremonious departure. I would like to say work had chained me but it was the wandering of the mind that kept me from reality. Seemed like I had left a part of me with you. London had truly made me forget the way art initially made me feel and why I took it up fulltime. That nostalgic feel came back to me, even for my personal life, I had to rethink my life choices and choose happiness. Our time together really reminded me of what we too forget to seek in life, fellowship, and true happiness around us. It is from your kind of bond that courage is borne; to push on in life, to stand when the ones who may not understand your journey try to faze you, and to move on and have faith when things seem impossible. It is from your shared sour gin that sweet memories reside and that’s all one can want in life. The club defined for me what sacrifice means for the people you love. I know it is not a story for me worth telling but it is one I needed to share. I hope this painting does describe a snippet of your lives, all of you, do with it as it may. Your rich history deserves a place in the world of art. With me being able to put my work out there I hope you get to share your history with the world one day. Until our paths do cross again, may those weekly meetups continue flourishing your bond.

Yours,
May.

Have you had that kind of belonging in life yet?