“Lady”
Thoughts about a recent participant in the HEARTs program
By instructor, Carmen Reyes
“Lady, as I know thy power,
I place my hopes in thee;
Thy shrine in Guadalupe’s tower,
My pilgrim’s steps shall see.Thy welcome ever was most sweet
To those who come in care;
When from this prison I retreat,
I’ll seek thine image there.”
As I look at the portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that is carve into a wood panel and painted in her glorious blues, white, red and outlined in gold, I am brought to tears as I think of the artist. Her name is Demeris and she started taking art class at HEARTs in January 2005. When she started she told me that she knew nothing about art and that she did not know what she was doing in the class. I have to admit that her presence and manner of expressing herself scared me a little. She had just recently come out of jail and drug abuse; she was trying to change her life so that her children would respect her and love her.
I told her to trust me and right there we had an understanding. She never missed classes unless it was an emergency and she put her heart into every project. She became driven and every project was better than the next. I showed her to meditate and see herself as a bright light that never had a chance to shine. One day she came to me and said “I never knew that I had talent and you have shown me that I am good at something. I have never finished a project before in my life and you expected me too.”
Reading the verse above honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, I know how much it meant to Demeris to finish the Madonna project…the last verse says it all; “Thy welcome ever was most sweet to those who come in care; when from this prison I retreat, I’ll seek thine image there.
Today Demeris is drug free and is at home and her example has helped her daughter and her grand children. Demeris is enrolled in the Bridge Program at Laney College.
Web Editor’s Note: This true story is second in a series of personal stories centering around the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement and how it helps individuals and families in West Oakland. To read them all, kindly click the “stories” category in the navigation to your right, and return soon to read more and see photographs and images associated with these stories.