Forever Friends-Chapter 7
Chapter 7 —Forever Friends- The Healing Garden Collection
"To laugh often and love much, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others and to give of oneself." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some paintings are celebrations. Some are prayers.
Forever Friends is both.
I painted this one before I knew how much I would need it.
I had just finished it when I went to visit one of my dearest friends. She had been fighting breast cancer for a long time. Her room was very plain — I showed her the painting and without really thinking, I offered to leave it with her. Just to be a bright spot on her wall.
The next morning she sent me a text. She told me how happy it made her feel. How much she loved it.
I will never forget that text.
She is no longer with us. And I miss her. But, her memory lives in every single flower of this painting. 💜
Every flower in this painting is a person. Every bloom is a kind of love.
And then my own darkest season came.
My daughter was diagnosed with a genetic cancer that doesn't respond to traditional treatments. It was surreal and the disbelief was big. During my most scary moments, I reached out — and love came back so abundantly, and powerfully, that the fear took a backseat. And it never stopped. It seemed like everyday was a miracle.
Friends and family donated for tests and treatments that helped save her life. Complete meals and food boxes appeared at the door. Donations showed up exactly when they were needed. A dear friend offered me a room in her house, right down the hill from my daughter, because I had been driving two hours a day to help care for her. Dear friends held a garage sale and people overpaid for everything. A GoFundMe raised thousands. Friends I hadn't seen since high school sent money. Friends from my salon,sent donations. The deep, steady, irreplaceable love of family and friends never wavered for a single moment.
Every single time. It would show up exactly when we needed it.
I cry every time I think about it.
That is not coincidence. That is God moving through people. Through friends. Through strangers who became friends. Through family. Through the quiet, steady, miraculous love that shows up in the darkest rooms and makes them brighter.
My daughter is someone who has always lived with her whole heart — overflowing with love and passion, giving her all to the people around her. And when she needed it most, that love came back to her super abundantly. A testimony of love manifested through faith.
A lush, jubilant garden overflows with climbing clematis in deep violet and soft pink, bold magenta blooms, delicate white wildflowers, and fluffy seed heads floating like whispered blessings through rich emerald foliage. The background glows with luminous washes of cerulean and periwinkle blue — warm coral and violet bleeding softly at the edges like a sunset that refuses to end. The flowers grow side by side, intertwined, holding each other up — thriving together even in the hardest seasons.
That is what this painting is.
All these people and all these prayers are truly a gift from God. It was more care than you can even imagine.
Every act of love is etched in my heart.
That is what Forever Friends truly is. And I believe with everything in me — if you are reading this in your own dark season — love is on its way to you too. 💜
The garden is open. You are welcome here. 💜
Forever Friends is available as an Original Painting, museum-quality Fine Art Paper Giclee Print, Canvas Giclee Print, Fine Art Card/Mini Prints on archival paper, and Gifts
Explore the full Healing Garden Collection →
Ms. Laura Jones Paints | Creatively Beautiful