Love lives on

Zane’s Comet, an original painting by Sandra Varney. Used with permission by the artist.

Some people will say the story is based on a string of lovely coincidences. Others might say it’s proof there’s a little magic left in the world. Personally, this strengthens my belief that the Holy Spirit works in ways we cannot begin to understand.

This Thursday, September 14, marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Zane Pitzvada at the age of nineteen.

In the eulogy, his mom Denise told the mourners that Zane was bright, intense and exuberant. He was full of energy from the moment he was born. Zane was his own person and thought being fair in every situation was above all else.

Denise closed the reading with these words, “All of us are like the stars in the skies. We do our jobs. We shine bright some nights and not so bright on others. But Zane was a comet. He was fast and powerful, seen and felt by many, and then gone.”

Wanting to have the eulogy and a poem framed to hang on the blue walls of Zane’s bedroom, Denise located a frame shop in a nearby city. Before making the turn that would take her out of town, she recalled a local shop named Sun Studio and headed there instead.

After Denise and the studio associate had chosen frames and matting for the two pieces, Denise browsed the store alone while the associate took a phone call.

Since one of Zane’s walls had a space just begging for a painting, Denise looked through a stack to see if she could find one with blue that she liked.

Then she saw a painting that was separate from the others. It was leaning up against a wall, encased in plastic. Denise held it up trying to discern what the painting represented.

The associate returned just then and told her a local artist named Sandra Varney had dropped off her original painting to be matted and framed for a show. “But you’re holding it the wrong way,” the associate said, rotating the painting. “It’s a comet.”

Denise said the only words she could. “I have to buy this. And when you read the eulogy you’ll be framing for me, you’ll understand why.”

Since the painting wasn’t actually for sale, the store contacted the artist and explained the request. Sandra gave her blessing.

The two women later met and Sandra graciously asked Denise for permission to title the painting Zane’s Comet. As you can see in the photo attached to this post, it is named just that.

But this is not the end of the story.

In Sandra Varney’s own words: “As an artist, my medium is watercolor; my style of painting almost photographic. Imagine my surprise when I began a painting using a brush big enough to paint a room. Not only was this method of painting a totally foreign genre for me, I had absolutely no idea WHY I was painting it, or how it might turn out. I knew only that I felt absolutely compelled, even led, to continue.”

Denise and I came into each other’s lives about five years ago. And because Sandra created Zane’s Comet notecards for Denise, every day as I sit at my writing desk, I can lift up my eyes and see one of them pinned to the edge of my bulletin board.

Zane, I didn’t know you in your short life on earth. But I know you now through your mother’s eyes and heart and stories. And because of the beautiful painting transformed into a notecard, I think of you each day.

Comet or not, Zane, your light lives on.