Diana Lynch Belden was nervous this morning, but also excited because this was the first day of a whole new phase in her life.
She had been happily married to her childhood sweetheart, Mart Belden, since the June after she graduated from New York State University with her bachelor of fine arts degree. Eight years later they had four young children: Edward Peter, six, four year old twins James Brian and Daniel Martin, and her two year old darling girl, Elizabeth Madeleine.
She fondly remembered the past phases in her life, from her early years before her father, Edward Lynch, made his fortune. Her growing up years had been spent in the mansion on Glen Road, as a member of the Bob-Whites of the Glen. The BWGs, as they liked to call their club, was really started by her best friends, Trixie Belden and Honey Wheeler. The club also included Trixie’s brothers, Mart and Brian; Honey’s adopted brother, Jim Frayne; and also Dan Mangan, the orphaned nephew of Bill Regan, the Wheelers’ stable manager. After high school, she spent four fabulous years in New York City, studying for her fine arts degree – including a semester in Paris.
Of course, almost immediately after graduating, she and Mart had their traditional, romantic June wedding, and the following September, she began her career, teaching art for the Sleepyside school district – their home town. She took a long maternity leave after their firstborn, but went right back to teaching full time. Just before the twins were due to be born, she decided to stay at home to care full time for their young family. She loved caring for her family, but she really missed her art and the students.
Today, she would take the next big step toward getting back to her art, toward having a better balance between being a happy mom and wife and beginning to fulfill her artistic goals and dreams. Just a month ago, Diana had successfully negotiated a contract with the Sleepyside Community Center to have a permanent studio space and begin teaching art classes to children and adults in the community.
She had spent the last three days getting the studio set up to her satisfaction. First, she had worked Mart and Dan nearly to the point of exhaustion, fiddling with the lighting and rearranging the tables and chairs. Honey & Trixie took turns, unpacking and setting up table top easels, while Jim and Brian were busy assembling several freestanding easels and stools for her classroom space. Her favorite job, she kept all to herself: fully stocking a supply cabinet with oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolors, charcoal, pencils and all kinds of brushes and papers. The last time she had felt this much pure pleasure in setting up a space was when she redecorated the nursery, swapping out all the blues and sports-themed items from her first three children and really glamming it up for her only daughter, Elizabeth.
With an incredibly cheerful voice, she called out to the kids, “C’mon, it’s a busy day for all of us. Let’s get moving!” She balanced Elizabeth on her hip and hustled the boys down the stairs, getting them all seated around their large kitchen table. “We’ve got time for breakfast, then Eddie will get on the bus and we’ll head to the Community Center for your first full day of preschool!” she announced as she slid into her seat at one end of the table.
“Bon Felicitations to my exquisitely beautiful and cheerful wife, the gorgeous mother of my much-beloved and extremely intelligent and good looking children!” Her husband, Mart, greeted them in his usually verbose manner, as he brought a platter of pancakes and a bowl of scrambled eggs to the table.
“Oh, Dad, do you have to talk like that?” Eddie groaned, even as the twins started pounding on the table and chanting, “We want food! We want food!” At the same time, little Elizabeth giggled and waved at her daddy, who then came over to plant a loud kiss on the top of Elizabeth’s head and exchange a tender kiss with Diana. That set off another round of groaning and giggling from the kids. It was a happy family breakfast gathering but soon enough Mart and Diana were busily clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, even as the boys ran around yelling and grabbing their things for school.
Mart washed Elizabeth’s messy face and fingers and set her free from the high chair. She scampered into the front of the house giggling, “Get my ‘packpack,’ too, Daddy!”
“Diana, my love, I am practically bursting at the seams with pride, excitement, and happiness for you as you launch this stupendous new career,” Mart said, wrapping his arms around her. Just as they began to kiss, the boys came running back into the kitchen, with Elizabeth not far behind.
“Eww, they’re kissing again,” Daniel said.
“Yuck!” James added.
“Da-aa-ad! I’m going to miss the bus!” Eddie said, hoisting his backpack on one shoulder and tugging on his dad’s hand. “Let’s go now!”
Mart and Eddie took off down the driveway to meet the bus by the mailbox and Diana grabbed her keys, purse and laptop bag, along with Elizabeth’s backpack and lunch. Then, taking Elizabeth by the hand, she yelled for the boys to meet her in the driveway. “Daniel, James, get out here now!”
She quickly and efficiently got all the kids and their gear properly secured in her indigo blue Suburban, a birthday gift from her parents. Mart fussed about the extravagance, even as her father apologized for not getting it custom painted in a deep violet to match her eyes. Since their wedding over eight years ago, the two men had come to an uneasy truce that kept Mart from feeling inadequate when it came to providing for his family, but allowed her father to continue to spoil them all out of his love and generosity. She started the vehicle and was just getting ready to start off down the driveway when Mart came jogging up to the window. She put it down for another quick kiss.
“Have a great day, my exquisite violet, my sweetheart, my love,” Mart said, with his lips moving softly against hers.
“I love you, Mart,” she replied. “Thanks so much for supporting me and helping all my dreams come true. I have no evening classes this week but you still have to pick up the twins and Elizabeth from the day care at the community center at six. Eddie is taking the bus and getting off at Ten Acres with Trixie’s boys. I’ll clean up after my last class ends at six and stop to get Eddie on my way and we’ll be here about 6:30, I hope. Oh, and dinner for tonight is in the crock pot. If you and the boys can get the table set and a salad made, we’ll be all set.”
“Go, my darling, and wow them with your artistic excellence,” Mart declared. “I won’t forget the kids; I put a reminder alarm on my phone! We’ll have dinner ready when you are.”
Diana couldn’t suppress her excitement, happiness, or nerves anymore. She turned up the radio and sang along with the kids. In no time at all, she was parking at the Community Center. She walked the kids in, signing the boys in for the full day preschool program and taking Elizabeth across the hall to the day care center, where the boys would come after their school program until pickup at six. She then headed to the main office to check for messages and topick up the rosters for today’s classes.
By 8:30, Diana was in her newly designed studio classroom. She had the rosters on clipboards, ready to take attendance, and double-checked the day’s schedule. She would teach art appreciation and exploration classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the preschool students attending the program in the community center. She was a little apprehensive as she realized that meant her own twin boys, James and Daniel, would be her among her students one morning a week. “Thank goodness, the preschool art classes aren’t scheduled to begin until next week,” she declared.
She would have various classes for adults every afternoon from 12:30-2:30 as well as every Tuesday evening. Additionally, she would offer classes for school age children Mondays through Thursdays from 3:30-5:00, and she would be running a teen art studio class on Monday nights. It was a heavy schedule, especially when she factored in that she would be in the studio to work on her own art projects, as well as curriculum planning Monday and Wednesday mornings and all day Fridays.
“Oh well,” Diana sighed. “I needed to get back to my art and to go back to work. It seems like a lot, but with Mart’s help, I’m sure I can handle it,” she quietly reassured herself. “Oh, woe,” she continued, “But what happens when one of the kids gets sick? Maybe full time was a mistake.”
Just as Diana was starting to get herself pretty worked up, her two best girlfriends, Trixie and Honey, popped into the studio. “Surprise!” they called out in tandem.
“A certain Bob-White we all know told us that you don’t have a class today until 12:30,” Honey said, giving Diana a warm hug and handing her a small cooler. “We brought you lunch; it’s Cook’s own chicken salad with a croissant, a cup of fruit, and a couple cans of diet Coke.”
“Uh, Diana, gleeps! This is embarrassing. I, uh, well I sneaked one of the diet Cokes,” Trixie admitted, looking a little red-faced.
Diana laughed out loud and gave her friend a big hug, even as Honey started to scold her. “When did you even have time to do that, Trixie? And you know that the doctor said no more caffeine during this pregnancy because your blood pressure is too high.”
“C’mon, Honey, it was one diet Coke! I drank it when you dropped me off at the front door and went to park your car. And my blood pressure isn’t even that high. You know that Jim is just a worry wart, and he probably bribed Dr. Smithton to start the restrictions too soon.” Trixie tried to justify her behavior. “Besides, you already know that I’ve agreed to take a leave of absence from our agency starting next week.”
“Trix, you’re going on maternity leave early?” Diana asked in shock. “Without Jim threatening to lock you inside the house?” she giggled.
“Knock it off! You two stop laughing at me,” Trixie said sternly. “I care about this baby, too, you know! Yes, I’m taking the leave voluntarily and I will take it easy. I don’t want to spend the last trimester on bed rest this time. But, I’m not going to be housebound. In fact, that’s part of the surprise today! Except for right around this baby’s birth, I’m going to be your back up person. You know, when one of the kids gets sick and neither you, nor Mart, can be at home. Plus, you know that Moms will want to help, and your parents, too, Diana.”
“Thanks, Trix,” Diana said, giving her friend another hug, then slipping an arm around Honey, she declared, “I definitely have the very best friends in the whole world!”
“All right, Trixie, let’s go,” Honey said. “Diana needs to finish prepping for her first class today. What are you teaching today?”
“Today is my introduction to painting for adults,” Di said proudly. “I’ve got ten students coming at 12:30. This class will meet for two hours every Tuesday and Thursday. I’m going to begin with acrylics, I think. Today, we’ll focus on getting to know each other, and what they want to learn in this class, and mostly, getting them to just make that first brush stroke. Everything gets easier once you’ve already got some paint on that blank canvas!” she said.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s enough art appreciation for me,” Trixie grumbled. “We’re outta here! But don’t forget, starting next week I’m your back up plan for childcare!”
“Bye, Honey, bye, Trixie. Thanks so much for coming to help me get through my first morning,” Diana said as her friends left the studio. She quickly got busy setting up tabletop easels, putting out blank canvases for each of her ten students, along with brushes and other supplies. Before she knew it, the morning had flown by and it was time for lunch. Just as she was setting out her surprise lunch, she heard another knock at the door.
“I heard a hot babe was gonna be teaching classy art starting today,” a deep voice drawled.
“Dan Mangan, you handsome rascal, get over here and give me a hug,” Diana answered, laughing delightedly. “Did Mart send you to check on me, too?”
“Too? Who else has been here?” Dan queried.
“Honey and Trixie were here and brought me this lunch,” she replied.
“Well, I came on my own volition,” he declared firmly. “Although, when I met Jim and Brian last night for a beer, they were both jealous that only I, your most handsome and debonair friend, would be free to surprise you at lunch and wish you a great first day. And, look, I even brought my own lunch.”
“Oh, Dan, thank you,” Diana said as they sat down at her desk and began to eat. “Truthfully, I didn’t want to admit this to Honey and Trixie because you know that they – well, Trixie, at least – never get scared of anything. I’m terrified! What if I can’t fill my classes? What if nobody likes my work or how I teach or ….”
Dan just wrapped her in a big hug and said, “Di, you know that we all believe in you, and your talent, and we love you no matter what. You said you wanted to go back to work, and this sounds like a great way for you to keep painting, return to teaching, and get out of the house. It’s a win-win situation, I’d bet on it. And you know that I never lose a bet.”
“I know, Dan, and I keep telling myself that this is just first day jitters,” she admitted. “I’m making myself crazy, worrying that they’ll be judging me – You know what, Dan? I’m being silly. I haven’t even seen the class roster yet and I’ve already made myself feel like a wreck. I’m going to check my roster now …. Hmmm …. Oh, no, Dan, you are not going to believe who is in my class!”
“Well don’t leave me hanging here! Who is it?” Dan asked, coming around the desk to look at the roster over Diana’s shoulder. “Well, that is quite interesting and certainly a surprise. But Diana, trust me, everything is going to work out just fine. All right, I’ve got to get back to work and you’ve got just about ten minutes until your new students are going to start arriving. Trust me. You’ll be awesome.”
Dan left to go back to work at the police station, Diana cleaned up the last of the lunch remnants and breathed deep, reassuring herself, “I can do this. This is my dream. Just breathe. Just believe. Just begin.”
Just as Dan had predicted, several adults arrived within five minutes. Diana greeted them, asked them to make name tags for the first day and to choose any seat in front of an easel. With just a minute or so until the official start of class, Diana walked to the front and welcomed her students. She asked if they were nervous, if this was their first painting class, and many of them admitted it was. She said, “That’s okay, ‘cause I’m nervous, too. This is the first class for adults that I will be teaching.”
As they were all laughing over their nerves, the last student came rushing in the door. Diana took a deep breath, even as she watched the attractive, older woman with curly hair and blue eyes slip into a seat, looking guilty about being late.
“Hello, Diana,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry that I was late today. It won’t happen again. Won’t you please call me Helen?” she asked.
Diana handed her a name tag and whispered, “Welcome to my painting class, Moms.” She winked at her and then said to the whole class, “Helen, you go first and tell everyone what painting experience you have, and what you want to accomplish in this class. After everyone has shared their experience and their goal for this class, we’ll get started on some basic exercises in acrylic painting.”
Helen Belden told the class that she had studied art in college, before leaving to get married, and that she had previously enjoyed painting landscapes. She said that she hadn’t painted anything more complicated than a wall or a fence since she was married more than 30 years before. “I’m excited to see if I still have any skill left, but I’m also really nervous. I just don’t even know where to begin,” she concluded.
By the time all ten students had introduced themselves and shared their nerves about being a student, especially an art student, Diana had totally relaxed. She led the class through a short overview of painting styles, media and techniques. “I don’t want to spend long periods of time just lecturing you about art,” she said, adding, “It’s more important to me that I immerse you in art. So we are going to begin today with a group painting project. I’m going to paint a very simple nature portrait on the easel in front o the class. But, I’m going to go step by step and explain what I’m doing, and how and why I’m doing it as I go along. You are going to be following along on your own canvases. We’re using acrylic paints today, as that is a very fast drying and forgiving medium.”
She continued, “I’ll stop frequently and walk around and answer individual questions and observe your technique. Please feel free to interrupt me at any time. You can’t learn if you don’t have the information you need.”
Diana got the class started on a picture of a large tree in autumn. She patiently answered questions and walked around and assisted students with how to hold the brush or get a specific effect on the canvas. She was surprised when she got to Helen’s station to see the canvas was blank and her mother-in-law was nervously chewing her lip and fretting.
“I can’t do it, Diana,” she said. “I’m just so nervous and tense; I don’t even know where to begin.”
“That’s easy, Moms,” Diana said, hugging Helen Belden and turning her back to face the easel. “There’s a surprisingly simple secret to getting started on a blank canvas,” she said, getting the attention of all of her students.
“You can begin anywhere,” she said. “The secret to becoming an artist, or to finding your way to any success at all, is simple: Just begin.”
Helen took a deep breath, dipped her large flat brush in blue and white just as Diana had demonstrated earlier and started sweeping it across the canvas. She dipped in water, then more blue, occasionally more white and kept the brush moving across the canvas in easy, sweeping strokes. The more she painted, the more she relaxed. The rest of the class was busy painting and following Diana’s instructions, too. By the end of the class, Diana looked around the room with pride. Ten similar, yet beautifully individualized trees were on the canvases in front of ten very happy new students.
As everyone cleaned up their stations and departed so Diana could prepare for her afternoon class for children, Helen gave Diana a big hug. “Thank you so much, my darling Diana,” she said. “You not only keep my son happy and grounded and gave me four of my precious grandchildren, but you have helped me begin recapturing the biggest dream of my youth.”
Diana was beaming with pride and happiness over the success of her first day teaching art classes at the Sleepyside Community Center when she arrived at home. She told her family, “I’m going to put that on a painting and make it the first lesson I teach in every class: ‘Begin anywhere … Just begin!’ ”
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I was participating in my first-ever JixeWriMo this past February when I happened to see some darling Mary Engelbreit note cards in the store. They depicted a pretty dark-haired woman in a painting smock, holding a brush, and the words: “Begin anywhere … Just Begin!” That was my inspiration for this story. I can’t say thank you enough to the supportive, kind and loving Jix community for encouraging me to do more than just devour other people’s Trixie stories.
Special thanks to my editing team for helping me with my typo’s, missing words (‘cause sometimes my brain is just way faster than my fingers), my run-on sentences with too many commas (kinda like this one), and other encouragement. Julie (jstar8), Julia (juliastoz), Jo (DaisyxDuck), Chey and Dawn (dmc6792): You are awesome ladies!
For those who like to devour trivia, this story contains 3,407 words – and this is my second posting to Bevy Tales. Many thanks to Mal for her genius in formatting this story and setting up a link so that I can share it!