#{astrid}

𓍊𓋼𓍊 My piece for "Together from Afar: a How to Train Your Dragon" tribute exhibition at Gallery Nucleus! The show runs from April 11-26 and opens tonight from 5-8pm (free + no RSVP needed) 𓍊𓋼𓍊

We were having a nice day and got stuck in traffic coming home. On the way her phone rang and she was driving so she declined the call with a sigh. “I feel so bad for him,” she said.

“You know that number?”

She did. It turns out her phone number had previously belonged to a woman named Serena. The man calling was her dad. He had Alzheimer’s and didn’t remember his daughter was dead, so he just called the number he knew was hers.

I was stricken to hear this. “Do you talk to him?”

“Yeah. Sometimes he thinks I’m her and we talk. I have a notebook with facts I’ve learned about her so I can connect with him better. Sometimes he knows I’m not her and I say I’m her friend.”

I struggled with the beauty and humanity of this for a moment. “What’s his name?”

“I don’t know; I just call him Dad.”

We sat in silence and I was overwhelmed with feelings. That she was so kind and thoughtful about this random connection. A man who called and spoke to her with love for the daughter he missed.

"One time," she added, "he called me just after I had a difficult day with my mom. I knew Serena and her mom had a rocky relationship so I talked to him about my frustrations with my own mother and he gave the following advice: ‘Everyone fails sometimes, even parents; what's important is to communicate with our loved ones, even when it's difficult.’

art’s been looking strange lately but oh well 💥💥💥

Astrid Becke 💚

Just a quick fan art of Astrid, inspired by The Mighty Nein animated series and, of course, Critical Role’s second campaign, which will always be near and dear to my little heart. ❤️‍🩹 Still dealing with massive blackouts here in Kyiv after russia’s horrific attacks on our energy infrastructure - we often get no more than 3 hours of electricity in the daytime, and I’m lucky to have a bit more at night. I basically trained myself to live by these schedules now: trying to draw nearly 100% of the time when electricity is available, and doing everything else, plus resting/sleeping, when it’s gone. Far from ideal, but it’s not like we have a choice. ____________