Revisiting with Pride☀️Suns out, sons out. An Ode to My Husband

When I first wrote the ode to my husband it was on his birthday last month. It was a reflection on how precarious destiny can sometimes feel but also how miraculous that is. I highlighted a single decision of accepting a work relocation, seemingly unrelated, that would have kept us from ever meeting if I declined the move. This was further emphasized by the 11 year anniversary of an apartment hunt I went on as a precursor to the move this week.

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And since the universe loves nothing if not emphasis, Vera Bloom from Words and Walks read that same post and was inspired to make this beautiful digital artwork. I’ve included the link to the fully animated version on Vera’s Substack below.

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View the fully animated version on Vera’s page at https://substack.com/@wordsandwalks/note/c-124034536

Vera describes her artwork here:

 

“I felt inspired after reading Ryan’s piece, “Suns Out, Sons Out: An Ode to My Husband.” There was something about the way he captured their love as tender, humorous, and real. It that moved me deeply. As I read, I found myself imagining what their love might look like in color, and I created a digital painting to express what I felt.

 

I looked up the LGBTQ+ pride flag for gay men and learned there are many different pride flags, each one carrying its own meaning. I’m so grateful that a beautiful story of two men falling in love opened the door for me to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community.

 

For the artwork: I chose soft pastel tones for the base, drawn from the colors of the gay men’s pride flag. I wanted texture to show something with a bit of roughness, because, as I understand it, it can be a tough world to live in when you’re gay. But out of that texture, I shaped a heart and enlarged it to make a simple statement: love is love. No matter the colors. The heart is for these two people and for the colors that represent them, distinct, beautiful, and full of meaning.”

I was greatly touched by the ripple of impact my writing had on Vera.  It made me think how often our actions or creations have affected someone without our ever knowing?  When I wrote that essay, I never imagined someone else would be inspired to create art in response.  I knew when I shared what Vera made with my husband and his mom that I also wanted to reach out with the idea of this shared collaboration where we can bring my post and her art together in one Substack post for both our audiences.

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and head over to Vera’s Substack at https://substack.com/@wordsandwalks to subscribe if you haven’t already. These moments of connection, creation and humanness are everything.  Thanks so much for sharing your creation, reflection and story Vera. Keep on walking in the morning with your beagles and sharing your beautiful writing and art!

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My original post:

https://www.theasteroidagenda.com/p/suns-out-sons-out-an-ode-to-my-husband