|
My life partner Jim and I have been together for five years now. We’re probably not a lot
different from most modern couples. We’re both still studying and we don’t have our own home
yet so we live in a rented apartment and are trying to save money for our future together.
We’re committed to one another, there’s no doubt about that, but since we aren’t officially married we don’t actually celebrate official anniversaries.
Children are still only a theoretical part of our plans for the future, but we have the best
dog in the whole world and he’s our ‘child’ and pride and joy. His name is Oscar and he’s a
three year old beagle mixed with something else. We adopted him from the local animal shelter
on the second anniversary of our living together as a couple, so our fifth anniversary is also
Oscar’s third birthday.
We usually celebrate our anniversaries by giving Oscar a present, but this year we thought
Oscar should give us a 5th year anniversary gift too. And we hit on an idea which turned out
to the best present idea ever!
It goes without saying that we have plenty of digital photographs of Oscar which we regularly
send to our friends and family by email. They are always sending us photos of their kids, so why
shouldn’t they have to put up with receiving photos of our Oscar, right?
I kept meaning to have enlargements made of a few of our photos, and I was searching on the
Internet for a photo site to order some prints when I came across the website
www.PaintYourLife.com This site was offering to
paint an original painting from any digital photo you send them, which, when you think
about it, is a really terrific idea.
The website shows lots of examples, including comparisons of the digital photos with the
finished original paintings. You can choose what medium you want their artists to use – oil,
acrylic, pastels, chalk or pencil – and you let them know exactly how you want the subject
painted; close up, with or without a background, etc. (You can even send a couple of photos
and they’ll combine them into a composite painting.)
I choose a great close up of Oscar and decided to order on the spot. The instructions were very
straightforward and easy to follow. The prices are surprisingly low and they take care of the
shipping details. I chose to have Oscar’s portrait done in oil paints and even chose a frame for
the finished painting
The painting arrived yesterday (well packaged and in prefect condition) in plenty of time for
Oscar to present it to us as a 5th anniversary gift. It’s a perfect likeness of Oscar;
beautifully executed, well framed, and ready to hang.
No parents could be prouder than we were to hang our original oil painting on the wall.
Oscar approved also. We will treasure this fifth anniversary present always.
Just wait until I send a digital photo of our new original oil painting to all our friends with
children. They’ll be racing to Paint Your Life to order paintings of their babies, too.
|
)
)
