picture of a portrait

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
1,498
Location
Illinois
This is an original by a local artist named Louise Woodroofe. I got it from my great-grandma after she died. We just moved into a new house, and I haven't had the chance to hang it up yet. The portrait is of a man named Emmett Kelly, also known as "Weary Willie".



I have another one from her that I don't like quite as much, but it's always put a smile on my face. The clown in the picture isn't showing his teeth, but I can tell he's happy all the same. I paid more than I would have liked to have it framed. I couldn't tell you much about the artist himself.



We've actually been in the house for some time now. Laziness is not the reason I haven't hung it up. The room where I'm sleeping is the same one where my grandpa killed himself. She and my grandpa: the most kind, giving, strong, compassionate man I've ever known and the model for how I want to grow up to be, had been together for almost 50 years before he killed himself about 6 years ago. They [censored] up his cancer treatment royally, in not so many words. Lawsuit and the whole nine yards. Never went anywhere... statute of limitations or something. She was recently married. He got very, very hurt by his wife too; she was cheating on him for like half of their marriage. They were both family therapists! Anyway, he had swore he would never marry again, which is one reason why the proposal was such a surprise. My grandma is a very strong person. She doesn't look her age at all, very social butterfly type.

My basic philosophy as it relates to the topic at hand is that people who share the best of themselves with the folks around them probably need to "party" more than anyone. Not because they need to blow off steam, or erase the memory of their stress, but because they need to have it firmly imprinted in their minds that life is worth living. If you have the bad side of life all around you, you need to soak yourself in that much more good and fun and clarity so you can balance and tip the life you're going to live. Eat for two or however many it is, so to speak, and replace quality with quality. Just don't do too many things at one time... so to speak. Patience is a virtue. Vanity is not. No one is safe from suicide. I saw the sweetest and strongest man in the world assaulted with so much pain and frustration that he became psychotic and delusional. I've had a hard time trusting people after that, and not even because I'm aware that man is a wolf to man, but because I know people are not as in control of their own behavior as they often think they are. We had taken all the guns out of the house except for the one we forgot, which he found in the closet going through his clothes.

Here's a TV program that aired about Louise Woodroofe if you would like to know more about her. It's an interesting show, you should take a look around their website. I thought this was pretty cool.
 
Originally Posted By: Julian
Just don't do too many things at one time... so to speak.
You know, it's funny. I wrote those last two paragraphs some time ago. Just a few simple edits from me today. There's, hmmm... I think only one other person on here who would have known that though. When you assume, you make an [censored] out of you and me, as they say.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Julian
The room where I'm sleeping is the same one where my grandpa killed himself. She and my grandpa: the most kind, giving, strong, compassionate man I've ever known and the model for how I want to grow up to be...


Very sorry about your grandpa. It's not at all unusual for persons of strength and character to think the unthinkable:

President Lincoln's Moods

Quote:

...one of the most inexplicable parts of Lincoln’s character – his melancholy and occasional deep depressions...

...the long poems that Lincoln wrote – including a recently discovered one on suicide...
 
Thank you for your sympathy. He wasn't much like Lincoln though. More like a big teddy bear.
55.gif
He was a really good guy.
 
That first picture is pretty famous.

Sorry about your Grandfather.

Hopefully you had time to be with him over the years. I take after my Grandfather in my knowledge of technical things like mechanics, electrical, home repairs etc.
Only bad part is I was born and raised in Hawaii until I was 11. He lived in the Seattle area at the time. So I never had a chance to bond or learn things from him. By the time I was old enough and I really wanted to learn from his wisdom cancer struck him down very quickly.

I never really knew him but regret that I did not find a way to spend time with him to this day. He could do anything electrical, AC, Mechanics. He worked all kinds of different jobs. He even worked on the Space Needle.

Yes Lincoln was a great man.....I was shocked when I learned he had the moods he did.
 
I spent a lot of time with him. We used to paint houses together and go fishing... he had a boat, that's why "my" car still has a trailer hitch. I'm sorry about your grandpa too. Things would be very different if he were still around. Here's some of my favorite pictures. The second one is me, him, and my sister at his 50th birthday party. The blue chair out at the cabin was his.



 
You don't know the half of it. I miss his fish frys and his dry sense of humor. There will never be anyone else exactly like him. I didn't cry at his funeral though. Cute signature, by the way.
 
Originally Posted By: Julian
There will never be anyone else exactly like him.
There's an epic Medicaid billing floating out there in cyberspace somewhere. Too bad you guys won't get to see it. Somehow I think my other family might. That "there will never be ______ like that" could be said of many things, of course, and really everything. I'm more curious than ever now if all my memories, experiences here really are unique, in a less... hmmm, philosophical sense. Context. Have to learn to take my own advice. I think sometimes this online format has downsides. At least you get to use lots of cool emoticons!
grin2.gif
All I want to know now is can you buy this stuff in liquid format, and do you have to keep it in the refrigerator?
grin2.gif
 
I learned a lot from my Grandads.

Mum's Dad ran a fruit and veg shop. Sis has spina bifida, and was hard on a couple of young parents when in what should have been toddler status.

Grandad had to drive his truck (International with IIRC a straight 6) past our suburb every Wednesday on his way to and from market. When I was 4, he would stop in, ask me if I had my bag's packed (always my choice), and if I wanted, I'd ride with him 80 miles to his town, stay with him and Nan, "work" in the fruit shop, filling potato bins, separating bananas so that he could "sculpt" them into displays...Toilet paper in the can room was apple wrappers (they all came individually wrapped back then).

He died early, and left loads of Mechanix Illustraded and Pop Science mags, which I pored over as a teenager, looking under the house at the abandoned foot powered lathe etc.

When I became Captain of the Rifle Club, Nan gave me his old trophies, and his sniper's trophy from WWII in the reserves.

Grandpa related music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BBQ6Knjxc8
 
Originally Posted By: Julian
She was recently married.
You know, it's funny. They didn't even know each other that long, but I know she never would have married him strictly out of convenience and/or because she didn't want to be alone. My grandma can hold her own. I'm not as sure about him because I don't really know him that well (yet), but there's plenty (for her and everyone) to like about him, and I think they're a good match. If he ever flips his own coin on her now, it will be a sad day indeed though. Have a great day everyone.
 
The point, I think, that some people may be trying to make, or would have made otherwise, is that even a genuinely good and well-rounded person can be pushed to his or her breaking point. Perhaps even by themselves. It's more than just a painful embarrassment when, say, a golden person's belief system and skills are rendered useless because of a "miserable" hand, it speaks of the nature of our place on this earth. That's a bitter pill to swallow. I've watched people choke on their own pride before. I'd rather have a beer, and the love of my family and friends that I've always been so blessed to know. You'll have to take my word for it. Actually, I insist.
55.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top