By Loretta Humble/Special to HCN
I was fortunate to be in the midst of two wonderful things this week, both of which are certainly worth telling you about. I just don’t know how to do either of them well — how to use the little space I have here, and my own limited knowledge of either to do them justice. All I can hope to do is to make you want to know more about one or both of them.
The thing they have in common is art, and love, and the human spirit reaching out to do good, and to remember those who have gone.
First, I was fortunate that Jo Ann Surls gave me a little job to do on the day the new sculptures were being set up at the Joe Surls Memorial Sculpture Garden. If anybody still doesn’t know the story, Jo Ann and her husband Joe lived very happily on this beautiful place for many years, where they created magnificent natural-looking gardens, and Joe’s son, the world-famous sculptor James Surls, placed numerous sculptures throughout the house and grounds. Besides being a superb gardener, Jo Ann is also a lover of history, filling every nook and cranny with wonderful old and unique things. After Joe’s death, Jo Ann, with James’s help, came up with the idea of a way to memorialize Joe and preserve and share the exceptional treasure they built there. Jo Ann has created a foundation which will support the Gardens long after she has gone to meet Joe, and James has contributed more of his art, plus helped to create a program that brings excellent new sculptures to the Gardens every year.
The new arrivals are here in time for the Sculpture Garden Tour put on by the Greater Malakoff Area Garden Club, which hopes to make some money to restore the historic Bartlett House grounds in Malakoff.
I got to eat lunch with the artists, who are outstanding people, but I spent most of my day in the house doing my assigned job, so I’ll let somebody else tell you about the fantastic art, or you can come see it yourself on the Garden Tour April 27-28.
The next day I went to take pictures of the Abuse Awareness Event at the Henderson County Courthouse. I am a new board member to the Family Peace Project, which is one of many organizations in Henderson County formed to protect and serve victims of abuse. I knew there were other groups, but I didn’t realize just how many people are quietly going about the job of helping. And I don’t think I really realized how much abuse goes on. The Clothesline Project brought that home to me in a new way. Strung out in rows and rows of clothesline were decorated t-shirts, every one signifying a victim or survivor of some kind of abuse. The white ones were created by loved ones of those who had died through abuse, and the various colors represented different kinds of abuse, created by survivors of that abuse.
Marlena Taylor, who is the exceptional woman who heads Family Peace Project, told me she has three t-shirts hanging there. I didn’t understand at first. She explained she has three t-shirts there to signify the three kinds of abuse she herself has experienced in her own life. Though she has been serving other abuse victims for years, she is just now starting to get past the shame to admitting it happened to her too.
There is a lot of ugliness in this world. I just hate to imagine anybody being bad to the beautiful person Marlena is, but that kind of thing happens all the time. The wonderful thing is, people are out there trying to help, and people can overcome the ugliness and create beauty and good lives.
I saw a lot of beauty and good lives this week. I wish I could do a better job of telling you about it.