My mother loves tulips. Wait, I stated that wrong; she's obsessed with them. She always has been ever since she was a little girl. I live with my mother in an ordinary house with my ordinary hamster, with an extraordinary name; Sisyphus. I kind of feel bad for naming that because I have condemned him to a life of endless struggle and hardship. Oh, you want to know more about me? Well; my name is Anna, i'm sixteen years old and I have cancer. I'm okay though, i've been in remission for a year and a half. You see, I have a rare type of blood cancer that's way too awkward to pronounce. I just know its killing me.
I’ve had as normal a life as possible with my mom up until I was diagnosed. We’ve had to make do with everything we had. Just from my observations, it’s not easy to be a single parent. My mom’s had her fair share of troubles. She’s blind in one eye from a work related accident. My mom is a professional gardener and grows different sorts of flowers to be sold around the state. My favourite painting has to be the Vase with Flowers in the Window. My mother introduced me to Bosschaert's art because of the flowers on display. The unique part of this painting is that none of the flowers shown in the painting bloom at the same point. I’ve stared at images of this painting for ages while lying in the hospital. There is so much to notice. If you look closely enough, the horizons in the distance don’t match on either side of the vase. And it would be impossible for the some of flowers at the top of the bouquet to reach the water in the vase.
Still life paintings are so uniquely beautiful. You can notice something new every time you look; it's like they slightly change so you'll never get tired of looking at them. I’ve never liked portraits as much, because most people are boring. But still-life paintings have hidden features. Look closer at Bosschaert’s vase and you’ll see a fly on the windowsill. Or look at any other of his paintings and you’ll see other small bugs in random places. But even as a master of the Dutch Golden Age period, not many people have heard of him. Which only goes to show that even those people who leave a mark are forgotten, and the rest of us, well we’re just nothing. So my goal in life is to not be nothing. I’ll do something to leave my mark and even if I’m forgotten in 400 years or so, I’ll have made a mark.
