I know, I know. @saywha announced the #showandtell tag ages ago, that fad has passed, we've moved on.
But I forgot to ever get around to posting with it. And @shello jogged my memory with her Show and Tell for her Birthday. So I wanted to share something with you all that has some importance for me.
This print is called "Play On", the original was part of a fundraiser for the city of Nashville after the devastating flood we were hit with in May of 2010.
Fortunately, my home was not damaged during the flood, but my workplace was. At the time I worked for the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Parts of the building were filled with as much as 12 feet of water during the flood, and the hotel had to close for six months.
It was a trying time for the city, and for me and my family. We were in the process of moving, our son was only two years old, and I had only been working part time so that we did not have to pay for daycare. After the initial cleanup, the hotel decided to lay off more than half of the staff. Since I was part time, I was one of those affected, and was out of work for about four months before being rehired into my position shortly before the hotel reopened.
So the flood has meaning to me. But it wasn't until nearly seven years later that I would see this print. In January of this year, I was at a Travel Show in Montgomery Alabama, and saw two prints regarding the flood in the silent auction. Unfortunately, I did not win the print at the auction, an employee of one of my company's partners took it home.
So I had to search it down. I didn't have a picture of the piece or anything, so I had to spend some time searching. I remembered the PLAY ON slogan at the bottom of the piece, and the figure standing in the flood waters with her guitar. That was all I had to go on.
It took awhile, but I did finally track it down. Fortunately, it had been commissioned by a local print shop, whom I called on the off chance they still had some. Initially they printed 500 numbered copies for the flood relief efforts. But they had later printed unnumbered pieces and I was able to get one of these.
So I had the print, but I needed something to frame it in. Fortunately, a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and I was able to find an inexpensive "reclaimed barn wood" frame in the correct size. I think the distressed wood fits perfectly with the distress that we all felt when the flood was occurring, while the central figure of the print is showing the courage we all needed after the flood to "Play On" and keep moving in the right direction. To help each other up, and do the work it took to make this city stand out as it has come to do over the last seven years.
So this hangs in my office, directly across from my desk, so I can look up at it at any time. It may not hold much monetary value, but it is a reminder to persevere and keep working toward goals. There is a lot we can achieve when we refuse to give up.
That's my #showandtell for today. What have you got? Do you have a possession that might not be worth much to other people, but has great meaning to you? Show it off, and use the #showandtell tag so we can get this movement moving!
Just thought I'd drop by and say hello is all. :D
Yo coin! Good to see you! Thanks for dropping by!
Wish I had more time to be consistent in visiting my homies :D
tell me about it. There are so not enough hours in the day!
Do You Discord? there's a pretty cool little bot running around the Discord ether who tells me when people I specifically want to know about post new content. I could introduce you if you are interested. ;-)
Same username there as here if you want to touch base and I will get you set up.
That;s cool I'll look you up
This post has received a 7.51 % upvote from @buildawhale thanks to: @mikepm74. Send at least 1 SBD to @buildawhale with a post link in the memo field for a portion of the next vote.
To support our daily curation initiative, please vote on my owner, @themarkymark, as a Steem Witness
Your post had been curated by the @buildawhale team and mentioned here:
https://steemit.com/buildawhale/@buildawhale/buildawhale-curation-digest-11-17-17
Because you were selected by the @buildawhale team you have received a Whaleshare upvote (account: @officialfuzzy) thanks to the whaleshares community and @buildawhale
Keep up the good work and original content, everyone appreciates it!