Went to grab an envelope tonight and stumbled upon an old memory of my "I'm an artist but I don't really feel like an artist" days. Randomly stashed in the envelope box was a memory of when I used to paint home portraits. It was a short, but busy, stretch of time, back when I was a military spouse. Occasionally, I'd run down to a local (and fabulously kind) print shop on Merchant Street in Honolulu and have them run notecards of the homes, and one followed me into this life now, nearly 17 years later. I can remember the smell of the oil pastels I'd push around and the nervous swarm of butterflies I'd get when it was time to deliver the results. The memory itself, of a time so long ago, is a bittersweet one so I'll open the box of envelopes again and stick the card back in there to keep safe for another day. Aloha, young self. #artist #homeportrait #oilpastel #schofieldbarracks #onceamilitaryspouse #bittersweet #westchester #northernwestchester #personalgrowth #amwriting https://www.instagram.com/p/BpaiTUQhXmu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wo2o1lvsgxw4