Suzanne:  Well surly Miss Bette can tell you if you have talent or not.

Bette: I think that I should not be the one who makes that judgement. I’m a little too prejudice in this particular case. Tina is going to need someone who is a bit more independent than I am.

Tina:  Yeah, I remember when Angie was about four years old and started to use crayons for the first time.  Bette swore that we had the next Picasso hanging on our refrigerator. And now that Picasso is going to Yale and studying law.

The all laughed.

Mary: Well, I’m sure you know a lot of people who will give you an honest assessment once you start to produce things you are ready to have shown. You just paint as the mood strikes you and the subjects you feel comfortable presenting.

Tina:  Yes, I will either have something people want to own or I’ll have a lot of Christmas gifts for friends and family. And at this point, I really do not care which. It’s what I want to do. I do not know if it will turn into another career or not. But we will see.

Suzanne: So, if this does not work out, do you have an alternative plan?

Tina: Not at the moment.  But I could do some teaching on the college level in at a film school or I could work for a non-profit in some kind of social services provider. But I am finished with the entertainment industry. I spent 25 years in it and I accomplished some really good work. But it’s too much of a rat race; to competitive and demands too much energy and time. And for all you give to your job, the rewards are rather fleeting. It’s a young person’s profession and not very conducive to good family life. If it weren’t for the fact that Bette was my wife and life partner, my personal life would be a catastrophic mess. She challenged me to choose what was important in my life. I was lucky in that I had several successful projects with really good crews and story lines. And that gave me the opportunity to be with my family and participate in their lives more. Most in the entertainment field are not that lucky. Most have to choose between career and family. I had Bette and some good projects, so I could have both. But if I had some of the projects that I have seen, I would have left the entertainment field a long time ago. For my family comes first. My family is forever and work just allows me to provide for my family. And now we are in a position to provide for our family and do what we want to do in life and have more time with our family. By the time we get Daniel into college, we will be ready to retire from work all together. We will then have time to do some travel or some projects which benefit the community or perhaps be a part of our grandchildren’s lives.