Lucresia Linton.com

“Do you know that she didn’t even place me on the list of people!!!”

I knew that this was going to happen.

And I was so excited for her, too. Not, only because of how she draws, but how passionate and excited she was to share her drawing with the world. She even put the Andre Leon Talley, the Grace Coddington and the Anna Wintour as her backdrop along with the dress from the Marc Jacob collection.

You have to know that Ava picked up her first pencil at the age of one and half.  I remember I had to show her how to draw on the ENTIRE paper. She would just squiggle a little on a corner and ask for a new paper. But, once Ava got started that was it! She was drawing all day, every day! Even if I only had small change in my pocket, I always went to the art store to buy her a new drawing book.

Asked or not.

I love watching her draw. She takes it very seriously. It reminds me of when I write a song. Nothing can break my concentration. Possums, not even a well-placed peckerwood.

Okay, maybe ONLY a well-placed peckerwood!

Ava would get my dad so upset because she would always take the paper from the computer’s printer. Eventually, I had to buy her the large packet of computer paper.

She was a very serious artiste!

But, when I saw this contest I had many a reservations. Does this blogger know what she is doing? No, because she is a younging herself. And although I assume she is very busy with her life et al, I figured that when she was taking so long choosing her picks, she may have even been grappling with the fact that she didn’t want to disappoint her readers. Especially, the readers who took the time to join in the contest to show their more artistic and fashionista side. Which we all know make for a very sensitive people. Such is myself. And is Ava. So, the apple don’t fall too far from the tree of Lucresia.

So, Possums, I awaited with bated breath.

And waited and waited.

And waited and waited.

Along with Miss Ava.

And waited and waited…some more.

Everyday, it was either “do you know she still ain’t put nothing up yet?” or “do you know she put up another post, but nothing about the contest, yet?”

And we waited and waited.

And then it happened.

We were walking into my second favoriteist (I know this ain’t a word) place in the world. No, not the Dollar Store, but Walmart!

“My hand is really hurting me!” I said to Ava as I rubbed the palm of my left hand.

“Uh, uh,” mumbled Ava.

“My hand hurts as if I have been GIVING HAND JOBS ALL DAY!”

Ava started to walk faster.

“I thought that would make you laugh,” I told her.

Possums, there comes a time when you know that the floodgates of emotions are about to happen. The floodgates will be strong, but you don’t give a damn! Cause if you had a dam you wouldn’t have the flood to begin with in the first place!

“You’re still upset about not being chosen?” I asked her.

“YES!” answered Ava as she flung herself around to look at me.

“But, you knew that this could happened. I warned you didn’t I?”

“YES!”

“But, that is her taste!” I exclaimed.  “I was so proud of your picture that I wanted to link it to the world! It was one of the cutest things you’ve done.”

“CUTE! PICASSO WASN’T CUTE!”

“No, he wasn’t. Did you see his pot belly?”

“WHAT?”

“Um, hello? Are you still gonna keep talking like I am three aisles over? Cause with one quick prayer and a shove I can put you over there!”

Her face softened and we kept on walking.

“I need to get me some nose spray,” I proclaimed. “Man! My hand is still hurting me from yesterday! Must be the Lupus,” I told her.

Possums, there was a lesson to be learned in all of this, but I wanted Ava to figure this out for herself.

“You know Ava there is a lesson to be learned in all of this, but I really want you to figure this out yourself,” I told her.

“And to think she had me waiting for months to find out who won!”grimaced Ava.

“And the lesson is….okay wait, so what, you’re not going to read her blog anymore?” I asked her.

“Yes, I am not going to read her blog no more!”

“And the lesson is….okay wait, you really don’t know what the lesson is yet?” I asked her.

“And I didn’t think she put her clothes together great anyways!” exclaimed Ava, ignoring my question.

“No, Ava. That is not the lesson.”

“WHAT IS THE LESSON THEN?”

If her eyes got rolled back one more time, I swear Possums, I was going to reach up and pull down on her ear and call out Jackpot at the slot machine known as her face!

“The lesson is forgiveness. That her choice should not change the hard work you did. The joy you felt. Did you already forget the joy you felt while you were drawing the picture?”

“No.”

“Ava, I have never seen you so determined. You were in such an intense mode. I saw a true artiste at work. I remembered that I didn’t even want to disturb you. I could actually see you were connected to God and He was guiding you. Avalina, not everyone is going to accept your art. Not everyone is going to accept what you have to offer the world. God only knows that I tried. And you don’t have to change your work to suit someone, either! It is about you adapting your reactions to their perceptions of you and your work. Just because she didn’t choose your work, you are quickly ready to say that she didn’t choose YOU. Remember, it is your work that wasn’t chosen. Not YOU! I remember when I first came out with my first piece of work…”

“Before your breakdown?” she asked.

“Um, yeah…MUST YOU SAY THAT SO LOUD WHILE I AM PICKING UP EXTRA STRENGTH COLD MEDICINE?”

I looked at her.

She looked at me.

The old lady behind us with her cart looked at the both of us.

I stepped aside so she could pass.

I gathered up steam and proceeded.

“Anyways, when I came out trying to find a deal, it seemed like everything and the universe was against me. I didn’t sound like Lauryn Hill who was all the rage at the time. I would tell the Jiggas that be, that no, I sounded like me. But, I realized in the end that it was meant to be because although the rejection was painful, I realized that I needed to fine tune who I was as an artist. I realized that I couldn’t be everything to everybody. Plain and simple. I had to ask myself-’who are you?’ I realized that I was meant to be a jazz artist. Ava, wasn’t it good for me to make all my “tries” and “struggles” on a smaller stage, than in a bigger arena? Thank Christ for that!” I said as I watched my breasts heaved back down.

All two of them.

“I see what you mean,” she answered with a sigh.

“So, you DO see the lesson in all of this!” I clasped my hands together, hurting the good hand in the process.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Good,” I sighed.

“I’M A GOING TO UN-BOOKMARK HER WEBSITE FROM MY COMPUTER TONIGHT!”

“Good. I am glad that my sermon wasn’t wasted on you! Come my pet, we have to go get you a new toothbrush!”

“Why? There is nothing wrong with my toothbrush!”

“I had to use it.”

“YOU USED MY TOOTHBRUSH?”

“No worries. I didn’t use it to brush my teeth.”

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