Ernie, I like your story, too! That is very insightful for you to see the connection to the stag in the picture for your mom, and the lack of connection of the picture to your dad’s second wife!

Sherry

Wow!!!

What an amazing story…thanks so much for sharing with us all in the community. What an incredible and brave act. I was totally enthralled with your tale.

And it spoke to me deeply…both as my smaller self…who had a lover for quite a while who had been abused….and as the stag.

In my animal totems, it is my right side totem…”Right Side ~ This animal protects the male side and teaches you that, no matter where you turn, it will be the Father-protector within. This animal also carries your warrior and courage spirit.”

When I was younger, my father was retiring and giving to his children the contents of his office. I only wanted two items. The first was a water color entitled “Kennebunk Port at ebb tide”

My mother just roared with laughter…to my quizzical look, she replied..”you were conceived on a vacation in Kennebunk Port”

Needless to say, I still have that picture.

The second, was a beautiful oil painting of a stag in full leap in the woods.

My mother refused to say anything other than…”that is your father’s, I gave it to him, and perhaps one day it will be yours.”

Now, as my father grows older, he tells me that I can have it when ever I want, but somehow, I still respect my mother’s love for him (she passed away 15 years ago) and for the stag he embodied in her life. While my father has remarried, I still know that my mother was the love of his life, and she still smiles down on us.

Also interestingly, his second wife has put the painting in storage:)

Thanks again for your sharing…it really brought out some incredible awareness in me.

In light and truth

Ernie

Judith Condon
Boulder, Colorado