Healing Art

One of the common themes of mid-life is aging parents- living with them and losing them. It's not an easy topic. The failing health and death of a parent brings us face-to-face with the fact that time is passing and things change, not always for the better. For us Boomers, it's a reminder that we won't be forever young.

Some artists in the Boston area decided to tackle this subject and have put together an exhibit called "The Certain Journey, Meditations on Lives Passing." My partner Bill and I visited the opening on Sunday at the Brickbottom Artists Gallery and did some videotaping with the artists and visitors. It was a powerful experience.

Lois Fiore, curator of the show, is in her fifties and takes care of her Mom, who's almost 90. Her paintings show the "push-pull" of wanting to care for an aging and beloved parent but resenting the time and energy it takes at the same time. Ted Prato's photos document the stages of his Mom's decline from Alzheimer's Disease. We see her childlike enjoyment of dressing up in sports outfits, evidence of the sense of humor that is often retained almost in defiance of the disease. Beverly Sky's collage tells the story of her parents through the artifacts of their every day life - the mortgage documents, recipes and other personal belongings of these survivors of the Holocaust who came from Poland to start a new life in New York City. Both of Beverly's parents died while she was putting this exhibit together.

The visitors to the Opening wanted to talk to the artists, to tell their stories about their own parents. They seemed grateful for the opportunity to share. It brought back memories for me of seeing my Mom go through 13 years of Alzheimer's Disease and seeing my Dad's health decline while he cared for her. I wasn't an "objective" reporter at this event.

We were all moved by the art and grateful to the artists for telling their stories so publically. They helped us to see that this is a universal experience...we're all in this together!