Eric the Red

I painted this watercolour in 1976 when Eric the Red, was just sixteen years old.

    

Three years earlier in 1973 we had moved into a house just across the road from Eric’s parents.     It was another case of meeting people and having no idea of the impact they would have on my life. 

Jane, Eric’s Mother, became one of my closest friends and confidant until she died a few years ago.

Those were happy days…more simple and relaxed.     Eric’s brother and four sisters were always around in a neighbourhood where lots of children, including my own, would be playing outside, climbing trees, and getting into all sorts of wonderful mischief:)

Today, forty-two years on, I think of Eric’s family as my own extended family.    We see one another as much as possible, and keep in close contact through social media.

I am reminded as I write these short stories of the importance of being open to the new people who arrive in our lives, seemingly by chance.   

Clearly, the hummingbirds were weaving their magic the day I met Eric and his family. 

A Bientôt