Elaine with TOL founder Scott Berger
We were so blessed and honored to receive such a beautiful and heartfelt thank you from our dear soul sister Elaine Eisenbraun of Portrait Connection.
Portrait Connection pairs critically ill children with fine artists, who paint a joy-filled portrait of each child. At a community ceremony, the art is presented to the family to become a sanctuary of peace, love, and joy in their home.
Dear Scott and Marla,
To receive the gift of The Tree of Life Movement while taking the first steps into a journey of emotional and spiritual adventure, made the power of the gift even greater. I stopped at your office immediately after landing in a plane at Phoenix. (Flying in and of itself, is a 4th dimension experience that we take for granted…)
I was on my way to Tucson to gift portraits to the families of children battling cancer and other devastating conditions. I’m a northerner, so the landscape was like a fairyland of gems to discover. Traveling on a squeezed budget, I was staying at the house of strangers. (friends of a friend of a friend). Everything was a surprise, poised to be revealed. I wore the intention stick mingled amongst the subtle jewelry that I always wear as talismans when I travel. Each is special and from a beloved person. Well, I think the intention stick had an accentuating effect along with the others. Everything went smoothly. The portraits, at 8 different locations, were all ready and located without excessive confusion. The home stay was pleasant. I even found time to explore the desert, photograph saguaro flowers, get stuck by a cactus thorn, listen to the birds, float in the pool under the moonlight…
But, most of all, the energy of the portraits flowed to the families and through the room where they were presented like it was freed in a new way to deliver compassion and to spark healing and fresh vigor. There were kiddos in that room; bald with the heroic badge of survival, wearing a mask in vulnerability to germs, and weakened but valiant. A couple were absent due to hospitalizations. When we couldn’t find one of the boys, I eventually located his father. I said, “Is (boys name) coming”? His father looks at me with a depth that exceeded my worldly experience and said, “He passed away” You can imagine how the world froze at that moment. Shock, sadness, compassion, frustration, devastation, all emotions for the man before me. Why, oh why can’t we go back fix what has gone before?1?
When it was time to present that now, priceless portrait – the last one of the evening, I knew that the intention stick and the words within it, while they could not bring the boy back or heal the other children, they could give us the energy, will and determination to keep sharing these precious portraits that I now, even more than before, understand to be sanctuaries, even life-changing.
Thank you for being a part of this journey and adding power to it.
We’ll continue to struggle with challenges, underfunding, timelines…but always we’ll have intention.
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Elaine Eisenbraun
Portrait Connection
Thank you, Elaine and everyone at https://www.portraitconnection.org/ for all the love you give to these amazing and beautiful children.
With intentions, gratitude, light, and love,
Scott and Marla