42 Comments
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Bridget Belden's avatar

So beautiful and touching. Thank you for sharing.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thanks Bridget, I really appreciate your words 🙏❤️

Cindy Eastman's avatar

Beautiful, Esther. I see a figure in the painting whom I imagined was Dom. But I suppose that's what art is for, for each of us to see what is meaningful to ourselves. How lovely of you to share it. xo

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Hi Cindy…yes, this one felt very personal. I know we all have these special touchstones back to our precious child. I’m so grateful that I can write about them and know they land softly amongst other parents, like yourselves.

That you saw a figure and imagined it was Dom. Well, that has made me smile. Thank you Cindy 🙏❤️

Nikki Meyler Miller's avatar

What a great memory, Esther. It's a really cool painting, and I love the up-close shot, showing the depth of the paint. This memory is so wonderfully typical of the love between a mother and her son, and you've captured it beautifully in your painting of words. Thank you!

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thanks Nikki. You may gather I’m working on harvesting the love and beauty from my memories of Dom. Your words really help 🙏❤️

Pam McCarty's avatar

A treasured gift made with love. Thanks for sharing.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thanks Pam 🙏❤️

Karin Flodstrom's avatar

Dear Esther, As I read this I feel your sadness, love, and the grief that never ends. I also feel joy.

“Hello Son.”

Thank you for letting us see how your beautiful mind works.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Karin, your words mean such a lot to me. Thank you for seeing it all 🙏❤️

Davina Robertson's avatar

Esther. There are, as you know, no words. What a gorgeous gift. The painting and the son.❤❤❤

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

I think you just found some rather wonderful ones. Thank you my friend. And for restacking this too ❤️❤️❤️

Romey Macdonald's avatar

Dom's creativity shines through, as does his thoughtfulness, his cheeky smile and his love for his mum and the planet too! I love that you turn towards the light and find your beautiful boy there every time, shining like the sun!!! 🌞🌞🌞 And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this poem! X

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Ah, thank you! I adore how you really ‘see’ Dom whenever I write about him. This poem is the latest one from the themes given for the Hope anthology. I’m planning to ask your advice about which one I should enter…😀🙏❤️

Romey Macdonald's avatar

Now that is going to be an impossible choice! I think you might have to submit all of them ;) Xx

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Romey 🤣 x

Sophie Ellen Jones's avatar

Beautiful, Esther. ❤️

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thanks Sophie ❤️🙏

Julie Cristal's avatar

This is SUCH a beautiful post, Esther. Thank you for sharing. What a gifted artist. But I know he was gifted as a human being. Sending love.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you for your kind words Julie…and for the restack. I see all these children who left us early as incredibly special. Maybe they were needed elsewhere, to remind us that love has no bounds ❤️❤️❤️

Laura Lynch's avatar

Wow! What a beautiful painting. He was truly talented! Thank you for sharing this! 🥹

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you Laura, I sometimes imagine him living in a cottage by the sea painting to his heart’s content. It’s a nice little daydream 🙏❤️

Laura Lynch's avatar

It’s a beautiful daydream! 🥹.

Michele Cambardella's avatar

A beautiful reflection, Esther. Thank you for sharing your son's painting. i can almost touch it. Do you paint? I have a friend in Malaysia who is teaching me to paint "with" my son. In her culture, there is a custom that says that the painting is a bridge between the beloved who has passed and the painter. I hope to write about my experience doing this. It has been very comforting.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

What a beautiful idea. I’m no painter but I’d be so interested in finding out about this. Will look out for your post, thank you Michele 🙏❤️

Michele Cambardella's avatar

Not quite ready to write about it. The time will come. Today is our son’s birthday. Hard day.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Oh gosh, that’s a hard day. Sending love Michelle ❤️

Margaret Bennett's avatar

Oh Esther. I’m weeping here. Your writing is visceral and beautiful. And I love that Dom painted this for you.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you, Margaret. You’re someone who captures the essence of people and situations so beautifully in your own pieces. So your words are such an endorsement as I’ve tried to do that here, in how I’ve depicted my son and this loss 🙏❤️

Rea de Miranda's avatar

This is beautiful, Esther. They are forever part of us. ❤️❤️

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thanks Rea, they are ❤️ Appreciate the restack 🙏

Stephanie C. Bell's avatar

Gorgeous: his gift of a painting, his bright shining sun, your light-filled son.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you Stephanie…yes, all those things ❤️❤️❤️

Sunshine's avatar

Thank you for sharing this intimate moment of love and loss. The way you hold both the pain and the light feels deeply real. I’m here with you.

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you for this really meaningful response to the piece. I appreciate your kindness 🙏❤️

Lee Reeves's avatar

Thank you for this lovely meditation on the meaning imbued in the things they leave behind that keep us connected. So sorry for your loss. 💙

Esther Stanway-Williams's avatar

Thank you Lee, I always hope my words find their way to other parents who know this loss, as I know you do too 🙏❤️