Well a few months ago (a year and a week from the date of my original posting about the painting), I received a 5x7 envelope in the mail. It stuck out from all the other mail because it had a hand-drawn picture of a desert smoke tree on it. The drawing was initialed C.B. And the return address . . . Carl Bray.
The letter tucked inside, from the 91-year-old Mr. Bray, said that he had read my post. And then he wrote, "You said you wish you could tell Mr. Bray how much this little painting means to you. Well, your wish just came true." Standing in my kitchen reading this, I started to cry. Harleigh came running out thinking that I was reading some telegram with dreadful news. Quite the contrary. The meaning of my painting just became all that much more special.
He went on to say that he has always prayed that his work would make life a little more pleasant to each person that bought one of his pieces. He invited me to an art show in California (included the invitation) and said he hopes to meet me some day. And I truly believe that when I am long gone, he will be one of the five people I meet in heaven.
Here is a picture of Mr. Bray that was sent to me by Kim Housken, a friend of Mr. Bray's and a very active citizen in the historic preservation of Palm Desert. Thank you so much, Kim! Kim is the one who delivered a copy of my blog post to Mr. Bray and followed up with a lovely email in response to my request to Mr. Bray to post about his letter. And she let me know that his 92nd birthday is this week so that I could send him a birthday card!
[Photos at beginning of post are by Ali Harper.]
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