*Annika
Seasons of Patterns
Annika Izant Mueller
Annika
Day 12 — February 21
“She looks like an Annika,” I said to Elizabeth who had just endured 25 hours of labor which started just before midnight the night before the night before. Having been awake for going on 48 hours, she nodded a whatever when we finally had to decide between Annika and Lauren. Thus began our daughter’s identity as a beautiful girl named Annika Izant Mueller.
Bringing a baby home for us was like stepping onto a different planet. But becoming parents became the ultimate challenge and the ultimate joy as we witnessed a new life unfold. For example, Annika was verbal early, saying at 17 months, “Daddy turned the lights on the tree!”
And she soon loved cats, and the carousel at the mall, and containers of art supplies for creative projects. She took gymnastics classes, and she loved to swim and to play soccer, and she learned to snowboard. In high school, she ran cross country (and later completed a marathon!), played volleyball, sang in the choir, and joined the newspaper staff, particularly enjoying the layout and design (like her father).
Elizabeth was always particularly interested in Annika’s many relationships and friendships, keeping up on the latest news among Annika’s friends—especially her extra-good friend, Zac, whom she met on the newspaper staff her junior year of high school. And—by the way—Annika and Zac are still together eleven years later as high school sweethearts.
Communications was her major at Colorado State University with a minor in Sociology, and after college she began doing newspaper layout for the company that designs the Denver Post, the Boulder Daily Camera, and two dozen newspaper mostly in Colorado. The folks in St. Paul, Minnesota, I’m certain, would be surprised to learn that their Pioneer Press is designed in Annika’s apartment kitchen in Denver.
Elizabeth took great delight in being a mother and treasured her kids. In fact, she held on to remembrances of their childhoods. Tucked away is a box of every piece of artwork that they brought home from school. Today’s featured art is by Annika herself. I asked her what she would title it. She said: Seasons in Patterns.
And this I know—without a doubt—that Elizabeth’s love for her cherished daughter lives on forever.
Day 12: the art of love and loss
view all posts at kentmueller.com
February 10, 2020, was the day my wife, Elizabeth Izant, entered the hospital. She and I were on a hopeful journey following her heart transplant five months prior. On March 1, she entered hospice and died March 11. This series is not about her medical journey. This is about sharing stories and reflections about our life together. In our 29 years of marriage, we collected a piece of art or two each year, often in celebration of our marriage anniversary. Each day from February 10 to March 11, I will be sharing an image of that art. And a story.