My Mother After Last Year's Long Recovery

Last year on Easter Day, my mother ended up in the hospital for months.  I was there the first three weeks just waiting for first signs of life and then for her to be strong enough to sit up and be moved to a step up recovery facility.

She couldn't eat for many weeks and relied on tubes to feed her.  She had to go through physical therapy just to swallow first liquids on her own and then food.  Otherwise it went straight to her lungs.  She also had to go through physical therapy to walk again (with help).  Mom had absolutely no energy to lift an arm let alone do anything else for many weeks.  She suffered Sepsis, Kidney failure, Respiratory failure, and Congestive Heart failure.

Mom was in the hospital or care facility until June 30th.  My brother had taken a photo of her after all those weeks when a hair dresser went to the care facility and fixed her hair.  The photo Gary took is priceless to me as it represents the battle she went through and won and returning to normal ..... smiles and all.

Yesterday I tried my hand at capturing her in graphite.  Bristol 6x6 paper, 2B, 4B, and 8B pencils, rubber eraser for lifting, and tortillion for blending.