Christmas is always a special time of year, no matter how old you get.

My grandma's health has been in decline for the past several years; She has been battling Parkinson's disease for quite a while now. The late stages of the disease are remarkably difficult, where symptoms graduate from the common tremors most of us are familiar with to severe shocking pain and hallucinations. My grandma has always been one tough cookie, and despite the painful episodes she endures daily, music and art seem to be a wonderful medicine for her. She recently requested a work from me, exclaiming "Paint me a little something one day when you have some time."

I was with her just a few days ago as she helped celebrate her brother's (my uncle's) 90th birthday in their childhood cape. As you can imagine, she ambulates with a cane now, and while my uncle and I insisted she stayed put in my car, she willed herself out of the passenger's seat and shuffled her way up several stairs to the front door. Her attitude darkened a bit once we got her seated in the house, struggling to get comfortable and, at times, not understanding exactly where she was. But in his own right, my uncle is a very special man, a former school principal, and for his birthday, some of his former students came by the house to sing him "Happy Birthday."

It was something else to watch my grandma will herself up out of the living room chair so that she could secure a spot by the front door in order to better hear the carolers. I held her body up underneath her arms as she slowly lost strength, feeling her tremors growing more severe. I said to her, "You know, you always enjoyed music...you would always ask me if I still practiced the cello or the piano when I was younger. It always made you happy." Even under her COVID mask I could see her eyes crinkle a bit as she said "Yeahh" with a smile, peering out of the front door.

Of course, it was then clear I needed to finish a painting for her as a Christmas gift! If there's anything else you need to know about my grandma, it's that her favorite color is purple. Purple jellybeans, purple sweaters, and even those polarizing licorice candies like Good n' Plenty. Naturally, I stuck with my Bob Ross-themed landscape acrylic work but incorporated some purple wildflowers into the foreground. Much like the painting I made for my mom last year, I wanted to give the impression of open space, fresh air, and freedom. My grandma will be moving into a new apartment soon, and I hope she can look at this painting and smile.