Sunday, June 19, 2011

Friendship!

"Friendship" - 5x7 - Mixed Media Collage
I have always valued friendship and have firmly believed that one can never have too many friends. I treasure all my friends, their strengths and their weaknesses, because no one is perfect. I know which friend is best to call upon when I need to laugh and who will lend the widest shoulder when I need to cry. I know which friends will let me rant when I'm on a tirade and which ones will boost my confidence when I'm feeling weak. And I try to always be available to my friends when they need me.

Facebook has opened the door to an even wider number of friendships. A little over a year ago I became friends with a gal named Karin out in Washington State. I saw her conversing with my brother on FB and discovered that they had gone to school together briefly when my family was living in Virginia. I was immediately attracted to her sense of humor, but we later discovered that we had a lot in common. We like the same music, movies, plays, actors; share the same political beliefs and even have similar jobs. She proved to be a great help to me when I was learning the ropes (I'm still learning the ropes) of medical billing. And we discovered that we both enjoy playing Scrabble on Facebook as well. (She's much better at it than me and I hope she doesn't get bored with me as her opponent.)

Last year (I think it was in the fall) Karin announced that she'd been to the zoo and had purchased paper made from elephant dung. Then she jokingly asked if anyone wanted to be her pen pal. Being an ardent papyrophile, I advised her that I seriously wanted to become her pen pal and could she please write something in Estonian (the country of her parents and a language in which she is fluent). 

She cheerfully obliged and sent me six different pieces of paper in three different colors. She wrote something on three of the pieces and sent an accompanying translation as well. One piece was satirical, one was patriotic of Estonia and the third was about friendship.

When I discovered that Karin was returning east for a week, I jumped at the chance to make plans to actually meet her and we got together for dinner and drinks at Pussers in Annapolis this past Wednesday evening. Of course I wanted to present her with a piece of my artwork, and so I incorporated her elephant poop paper with the note on friendship in the piece of art. The flowers are also made from elephant paper, too.

We had a great time that evening and I hope that one day, in the not too distant future, that I make it out to the west coast to meet up with her again.

The paper reads:
"Friendship - whether near or far, is the most precious gift in the world."
Kristeena Crabb & Karin Vercamer

5 comments:

Cmichaudart said...

great story...I marvel at what the internet has done!

Karin Vercamer said...

Kris,

It was wonderful to finally meet you face to face, I had an absolute blast that evening!!!!! And I am overwhelmed with the beautiful gift, once I find a permanent home for it I'll post a picture for you, thank you ever so, from the bottom of my heart!! Looking forward to reciprocating when you make it out to my neck of the woods someday!!! Hugs, dear friend!!

Anonymous said...

You're right, Cindy, the internet has changed the world.

Thanks, Karin. I'm so glad you like the piece.

Artist in Residence said...

Kris-- love this piece-- the colors are so 'you' and the note in Esonian is enduring!

Anonymous said...

Thank you A'nR! You're right, those do seem to be my colors.