Coming of Age: Heather

       Heather has shared with me a coming of age object which was a painting by Harry Eisenhauer, and it was a Anti Vietnam War painting. This is one of her most favored possessions; she has had it since she was 8. Heather remembers exactly how they got it. Her mother had traded a pistol for the painting with Eisenhaur himself, whom she taught with at Kent State University. Heather saw it everyday from when she was 8, to when she went off to the Coast Guard for four years. 

      After Heather had done her tour she returned and purchased a house for herself. Her mother then gave her the Vietnam painting as a house warming gift; this meant so much to Heather as she explains “If my house were burning down the painting would be the first thing I would grab.” She also explains how it might not be the most artistic painting, but it means the world to her. Every night when she goes to bed she always takes a glance at it. This all ties in with coming of age because when she had purchased her own house she then was entrusted by her mother with the family’s most prized possession. That is when she felt like a true adult. 

Brian Awalt (Honors Challenge)