Callie’s pose, in this painting, exemplifies grace. Growing up, Steve and I (semi-annoyingly) broke out in random duets of amazing grace. This song is a cornerstone of many Christian services and was the topic theme of Steve’s student-led service during his senior year of high school in 2015. He delivered the sermon, likely hungover. He spoke about hardship and how at the end of the day it is grace that leads us through. Following his death, I referred back to his sermon as a message to lead me. In the same way, I relistened to “Free Bird”, his favorite song, in a new context. Leading to the feather in this painting as a reference to “Free Bird”. I chose to have her look back at the feather while moving forward as a way to honor the role that memory plays in grief. Memory gives us a way to look back while still moving forward. This can be applied to faith as well. As mentioned in “Who I Have To Be”, I lost aspects of my faith in my grief. Through grace and my support system, I was able to find a lot of faith again, although it was altered or slightly different. It is through healing, time, and grace that I have felt able to adapt to this new reality and move through my grief.