How Art Heals-WEB

13 6. Ellen Fuller WWW.ELLENFULLER.COM NEW MEXICO, USA “My inspiration for this painting was a dead piñon tree that had blown onto my road. I was intrigued by its desolate feeling. Soon after, a young woman crashed her car near it, and I got out of my own car to help her. She (Jennifer) appeared dazed, inebriated, and possibly in shock, but with no apparent injuries. “She wanted to drive, but I took her keys. It wouldn’t have mattered; her car was wedged between a pine and the piñon. She let me hold her in my arms. It was a cold night, and she was wearing only a short dress. We waited for a tow truck together, but before it arrived, she ran into the darkness. I called 911, and Search and Rescue, but no one ever came. It took a tribal policeman over two hours to arrive. Even then, they wanted to move Jennifer’s car rather than go after her. The car wasn’t even blocking traffic! “The next day I’d heard she’d somehow made it home. One of her friends was worried about her possibly being suicidal, and again the police were called. When they entered her house they saw she had a gun, and they called in a SWAT team. In the end, she shot herself and died.” I’d been the last person to spend time with Jenn. I showed her parents the painting I’d made of the tree and explained to them how it now held a deeper meaning for me. It was now a tribute to their daughter. I think of Jenn often. She is a part of me. I feel that the painting brought her to me so I could be there for her. I just wish it had been a different outcome for her that night.