My Lisa 2: Mercurial Vagabond

Oil Painting on Canvas, 30” x 24”, 2023

$2,500

My Lisa 2: Mercurial Vagabond

Lisa was a gifted artist to whom I was magnetically drawn during college. She had an effortless and timeless beauty, like a 1940s movie star. She was not boldly ambitious or audacious like the rest of our group was. There was a softness about Lisa, an open- minded innocence. She was easy to confide in, and she never judged.

Lisa and I took a bartending class so we could work together at campus parties, and we were a big hit—like Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown in “Cocktail”. I marveled at the way she glided and sparkled through the events of our college lives. The guys I dated would often have a crush on Lisa, and I didn’t mind. I understood, because I had a crush on her too.

After college, she moved to the mountains of Colorado—waitressing, skiing, and hiking for a few years. Lisa was a mercurial nomadic vagabond, not attached to stuff or people. When I had to relocate to Detroit for work, I was lonely. Luckily, at the same time she needed a place to live, and she slept on my couch. I was so grateful for her presence, but I clung to her in a way that was needy and bossy. I insisted she settle down and use her artistic talent. She took a job in graphic design.

At my wedding, she was my beautiful bridesmaid, and soon after that she disappeared. I’ve searched the internet and badgered old friends, but she truly hasn’t left a trace. Where did she go? Why did she leave without telling me? Was my friendship suffocating her? Did I ever really know her?