Give 52 Week 40 - Speak Your Heart. I'm Speaking Mine

Give 52 Week 40
Cheryl Houston 2016

Most weeks I know who I'm going to send the next week's artwork out to but sometimes I don't. In those not knowing times, I try to listen to what's going on around me.

Week 40 was one of those weeks.

Leading up to week 40, I kept hearing an echo of former First Lady, Laura Bush.

She was in the headlines regarding the current election cycle.

A link came up of an interview that she did with her daughter, Barbara Bush and it was really sweet and interesting. It starts out with memory of Barbara's that Mrs. Bush didn't learn to type because she wasn't going to be somebodies secretary. A woman with a plan.

Then I saw that she and her other daughter, Jenna had co-written a children's book together called, Our Great Big Backyard.

And this kept going on- Ellen sent some cutie pie to the White House and the video popped up somewhere; and her book Spoken from the Heart showed up in my Amazon feed; and the last thing that happened was I sitting on the couch starting this weeks drawing with no idea who it was going to and my son, Drew, put a show on the soul-sucker (you may call it the television in your house). It was ESPNs 30 for 30 Shorts: First Pitch. A show about how we, as Americans, went on after 9/11 and the importance of our rituals. In this case: baseball.

And, there she was again.

Our graceful, beautiful, soft-spoken and steadfast former First Lady, Laura Bush. And when the universe keeps sending me an echo, I listen because I want the universe to work in my favor. What I admire about Mrs. Bush is that she is cool, calm and collected- a quiet voice but a stern, intelligent, loyal character radiates from her as well. She is a champion for women's causes and I hope that in my everyday life I can lead by her example.

This is my gift. I give it to you.