oil on canvas reflection

After reading the excerpt from last week's reading, "Oil on Canvas", I had an interesting reflection. I have a painting hanging on my wall above my dining room table that has been in my family for years. I don't really recall when it showed up. I just know that it hung over my family's stereo console. You know the ones...with the 8-track, radio AND turntable all in one?!? Well, when I moved to Baltimore in August, my dad told me he was going to throw it out, and for some reason, I decided I wanted to keep it. I guess because as a child I loved it, but partly because it was the one peice of art we owned. It is old, and the scene is very Victorian, with one man and 4 women, gathered in a huge ballroom and playing chess. I have had two people ask me about the painting. One was in December. My friend Stacey's boyfriend Tom asked me "So, what's the story with this painting?" I was a little shocked, since there really was no story, that I could think of, just that I liked it and saved it from the trash. He mentioned it didn't really go with anything in my apartment, so that's why he thought there was some great story attached to why I owned it, AND chose to hang it in my place! The second person to ask me about the painting was my neighbor and friend Lynn. I repeated the story of Tom and his questions about the painting's story. She actually asked me what I liked about it. At that moment, I saw the painting completely differently. I started noticing the detail, the staircase in the background, the painting hung along the walls of the staircase, and the more we looked at it, the more we observed. I can honestly say, that it felt like a brand new painting...a museum piece I wanted to get to know. And we spent at least 10 minutes looking at the painting and talking about it. I then remembered that there was a figurine that was similar to the painting, sitting on a lace doily on top of the console. Now I wonder where that went...and if my dad has since gotten rid of it. It might sit nicely on the shelf below the painting.