i may be losing it

Last fall, Carol and I went to the Novemberfest on Black Friday morning.  I've gone almost every year since it began with the exception of the past two. Because I didn't do Black Friday shopping the last few years since my foot injury.  Why fight it.  Anyway.  This year, I went to one store with Carol and Madi, then came home a bit and we went to the Novemberfest for a quick and disappointing walk-through.  The heat was broken in the Rec Center and it was freezing!  We'd have been quick regardless of my foot this year!

ANYWAAAAY... I found an artist, Brent Borup, and his booth was wonderful. He is very talented!  I was immediately drawn to this print of his painting of the Logan LDS Temple in wintertime. It's very unique and I loved it!  I had to have it and knew just where I would put it all winter long.  He had a Novemberfest special where you could buy two at a better price.  So, I purchased a second print of the temple, thinking that I'd give the second one to Liza and Buddy for Christmas.

 Knowing that Liza wouldn't appreciate the snow/winter scene like I would, I found another print of the temple. The second print was very different.  I was not quite sure that I even liked it at first glance.  It was dark.  But, the more that I looked at it, the more that I liked it and then we began to visit about it.  Brent said, "The temple is the light in the storm."  Oooohhhhhhh.  Yes!  I loved it!  Perfect!

I stopped on the way home for a frame and put it in the den on the bookshelf for December then, I got distracted by something else and forgot about the other print completely.  When Doug came in from work that afternoon, I told him about it and went to get the other print.  It was not in the bag.  I told Doug that I'd watched him put both prints into the bag.   I had paid for it and told him that I would grab it on my way out the door so that I didn't risk damaging them.  Maybe he had given me someone else's bag. I even looked behind the framed print to see if maybe I'd put both prints into the frame.  Nothing.

So, I gave him a call later that night and left him a message to give me a call.  He called almost immediately.  I explained what had happened.  He, too, was baffled. He remembered me and putting them both into the bag.  We'd visited for a few minutes about his art.  We joked that if I were going to steal something from him, it would definitely not be a painting of the temple!  He told me to come in the next day and pick up another print, no problem.

The next morning, I drove Grace to work and had Zeej go along with me.  Not wanting to park a half mile away and then walk into the rec center in the crowd, I dropped ZJ off right at the door and she ran inside, told him who she was and he sent her back with the new print of the temple. I bought it home and put it away until I was ready to give it to Liza.  End of story.  So I thought.

About three weeks later, I was putting something else away...hiding a gift... and I put it away in a place that I knew no one else would look.  I slid it into this small slot that was flat and protected.  A perfect place to store a print so that it won't be damaged or bent.  Sure enough, there was the print.  It was a perfect place to protect it and apparently, obviously, I had put it there as soon as I pulled out the first print to frame it.  Um...

I have absolutely no remembrance of ever opening that cupboard and putting the first print there.  NONE.  I was horrified!  I immediately grabbed Brent's business card and called him.  "Hi, This is Sophia Corbridge.  At the Novemberfest...."  He remembered me.  I said, "Well, I'm absolutely mortified to tell you that I just found the original print and I have no no nooooo knowledge of putting it away there."  I asked for his address and told him that I would mail him a check immediately or I would even drive it up to Preston, Idaho (about 30 minutes away) if he preferred.

He laughed and, very graciously, said, "I know those "senior moments." Why don't you just keep the extra one and give it to someone else as a gift."  I insisted that I'd be happy to send him a check and he insisted right back for me to keep it.  So, I did give it to Liza and Buddy and they've had it framed already.  I framed my "extra" one this morning and am thrilled with it.

   

Honestly, I'm losing it!  But, seriously, this is a good man, a great artist with a big talent and a bigger heart.  Check out his art here.  If you decide to buy something from him, tell him "Sophia sent me".

Life is good... but I'm not so cure if Senior moments are!