art is on its way

The random number generator has done it again, and two of you are winners!

Before I plugged in the numbers, I made myself promise that I wouldn't cheat. Because I kind of knew who I wanted to win. (Is that wrong?) Kim wrote to me about a friend who is a burn survivor, one of the world's worst. He's blind now, a fate Tani only narrowly escaped, and he goes to a local burn centre every week to meet with the patients there. Wouldn't it be incredible, I thought to myself, if he could bring along a painting from a survivor an ocean away?

Now he can! It seems that random.org read my thoughts, (please, daddy, no comments on randomness and how it doesn't equal telepathy) because it promptly spit out Kim's number! She's going to be receiving Tani's painting, and I pray that some of her joy and full-on zest for life spill out of it when it's shown to those other patients.

Tara is going to be receiving Gafar's painting. She's a scrapbooker who has recently turned to a life of, well, crime prevention; she's been sewing superhero capes. I'm pretty sure they look better than the version Gafar was sporting the other day; an old raggedy gown tied around his neck as he ran up and down the hall, fist in the air. Until we were told we were being too loud and had better contain all the hilarity. The thing is, it's hard to; I'm so ridiculously excited about how Gafar has changed and grown since he came to us. When he arrived, he was withdrawn, pulled entirely into himself. He hadn't seen out of his right eye in what probably felt like forever, the tumor blocking not only his sight but his spirit, too. Yesterday, for the first time in four years, I held away the swelling above that eye and he pulled back in astonishment as light hit his retina. He looked up at me, shocked, and I gently closed his good eye and held up three fingers.

Trois, he yelled, three! Over and over he identified numbers, and then sat down to colour, grinning to himself and shaking his still-bandaged head in disbelief.

I think his painting speaks just as much of who he is as Tani's. Underneath all that grey, it's bursting with colour. Life and exuberance and joy, just waiting to break through.

So there you have it. Send me your mailing addresses, ladies, and I'll send along your love.

(And don't forget that tomorrow night at eight PM on Discovery Channel Canada is the grand unveiling of Mercy Ships on Mighty Ships! Try saying that ten times fast, and then go watch it! I've used entirely too many exclamation points in this post!)