#loveislikeamailbox

[artbyalexandraking]

Gladys Brown or Nana Gladys Brown was a charismatic and strong woman. During the 1960’s she managed to raise 3 children as a single mother, and went on to raise one of her grandchildren. In 2009, Gladys was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. Slowly over the past 8 years she has slowly lost her ability to talk or remember her family. After breaking her hip going to take her medication, Gladys had multiple complications during surgery, resulting in 3 surgeries in the process of her stay. Due to the anesthesia and the condition of her memory, her Alzheimer’s grew worse causing her to be violent toward the nurses. This caused the state to step in and take away her property and ability to live on her own.  

[artbyalexandraking]

Julia Mellen &Lily Carothers

         In 2004, Lily and Julia met in Ms. Sorise’s 3rd grade class. Since, they have been attached at the hip. Although they have chosen different college paths, and currently live 6 hours from each other, they communicate every day. These face times, phone calls, and skype calls go on for hours and don’t even stop for Lily or Julia to take a bath. 

[artbyalexandraking]

Steven Wayne King, older brother of Kendra and Kevin King. Born December 22nd 1960, he was a warm and resilient child from the start. My mom recalls him once beating up a boy 2 grades ahead of him for picking up on his sister. This fierce attitude sent him to the marines at 18. However, due to his abusive upbringing there were things that Steve had trouble with overcoming. After having his daughter Natalie, and his son Drew, Steve and his wife began to have troubles. He was forced to leave his house in 2004, and on May 14th died of a drug overdose. Steve was planning to move down to Louisville, but died before receiving help. 

[artbyalexandraking]

Mark and Kendra King

After a day at the track, Kendra and Mark were introduced by a mutual friend named Tracy. Mark accused Kendra of being a narc and after a “smart ass remark” as my dad recalls, he started chasing my mom. For months my mom dodged my father calls, finally she agreed to a quick date. My father had been recently divorced and had a 5 year old son named William, that to me became my older brother Billy.  After a year of dating and a 4th of July party, I was born the follow year on March 27th, 1996. My mom and dad have been married for 21 years.

[artbyalexandraking]

Rose Marie Burch

Rose Marie was Kendra and Mark King’s neighbor for over 12 years. From a very young age she took care of her 12 brothers and sisters, keeping a job to pay the bills. This care taker work pushed her to be a nurse. She helped my mom through many trials and pushed me to continue making art even when I proposed many times I wasn’t good enough. Rose was a devoted Catholic, loved to draw, and loved animals. She would always come to the fence when she heard my car pull up, and with a beer in her hand always told me not to take life too seriously. In December Rose’s house was broken in, and she died from a massive heart attack from the scare. Her dog scholastica is being taken care of by my Kendra.

[artbyalexandraking]

Davin Jones and Alexandra King

Spent over 2 years being friends. After a trial of hiding feelings, Alexandra (me) said “ You should just date me instead.” Ever since February 13th, 2016 we have been consistently dating. We have rescued a cat together, supported each other through Crohn’s flare ups, cancer, and toured parts of the U.S. We are currently living together in Germantown and coming up on our one year anniversary.