Monday, August 16, 2010

8 Year Old Painter New Star of Art World





He's Britain's most talked-about young artist. His paintings fetch hefty sums and there's a long waiting list for his eagerly anticipated new works. It has all happened so quickly — he's still getting used to the spotlight — and Kieron Williamson fidgets a little when he's asked to share his thoughts on art.
"Cows are the easiest thing to paint," said Kieron, who has just turned 8. "You don't have to worry about doing so much detail."
"Horses," he says, are "a lot harder. You have to get their legs right, and you have to make their back legs much bigger than their front."
Paintbrush prodigy Kieron — dubbed "mini Monet" by the British press — is a global sensation. All 33 of the pastels, watercolours and oil paintings in his latest exhibition sold, within half an hour, for a total of 150,000 pounds ($235,000). Buyers from as far away as the United States lined up overnight outside the gallery, and there is a 3,000-strong waiting list for his Impressionistic landscapes of boat-dotted estuaries, snowy fields and wide marshland skies. He has a website and a business card. Strangers approach him at the gallery, asking him to sign postcards of his work. Journalists from around the world travel to his small home town in eastern England to interview him. Kieron shrugs off the attention. "It feels normal to me," he says.

It definitely doesn't feel normal to his parents, Keith and Michelle Williamson. They are bemused, proud and a little anxious about their son's talent and its effects.
"It has been overwhelming," said Michelle Williamson, a 37-year-old nutritional therapist. She and her 44-year-old art dealer husband live in a small apartment with Kieron and his 6-year-old sister, Billie-Jo.
Kieron was a normal, energetic little boy, and his parents were surprised when he asked for pencils and paper during a holiday in Cornwall two years ago. They were astonished when the then-5-year-old produced an accomplished picture of boats in a harbour. He progressed rapidly to fully realized landscapes, many depicting the flat, open Norfolk countryside near their home.
"Keith and I don't paint, so we find it difficult to know what's going on inside his head," Michelle says
"We don't understand it. We don't know where it comes from. But he's adamant it's what he wants to do. When your child has got such a gift and a talent, you have to support him."
That hasn't stopped the Williamsons worrying about whether they are doing the right thing in exposing him to so much attention. They showed Kieron's work to a local gallery, which has mounted two exhibitions and is helping them cope with the flood of global interest.
"It's not a natural thing to want to put your kid in the media spotlight," Michelle said.

A self-possessed blond boy, dressed in a polo shirt, shorts and sneakers, Kieron doesn't seem like a hothouse prodigy.He likes soccer — he plays defence for a school team — and messing around on the broad North Sea beaches near his home in Holt, a pretty Georgian town 125 miles (200 kilometres) northeast of London. When he talks about his work, it's with a striking mix of the adult and the childlike. He can discuss his colour choices and the interplay of light and dark, but also remembers more idiosyncratic details.
This," he said, pointing at one landscape, "is when we came back from Holkham and we couldn't get fish and chips because there was a line going from the fish and chip shop to the car park."  When he starts to draw, with a confident, relaxed fluidity, all childishness disappears. Working from a photograph of a river at sunrise, Kieron swiftly sketches the horizon, the mounds of trees and the line of the river, then uses pastels to colour the yellowy pink of the sky. His parents are happy for people to watch him work — it disproves any suspicions that the paintings are not his own. They encountered that kind of skepticism at first, though Michelle Williamson says it has abated.

Critical opinion on Kieron's work is divided. One newspaper headline asked, "Is Kieron Britain's most exciting painter?" But others have wondered whether Kieron's paintings would be so well-regarded if he were an adult, and asked if his talent will endure. The precedents are mixed. Pablo Picasso famously said that unlike in music, "there are no child prodigies in painting. What people regard as premature genius is the genius of childhood. It gradually disappears as they get older."  Picasso himself was a child prodigy, however, who went on to revolutionize art. The 19th-century English artist John Everett Millais was made a member of the Royal Academy at 11. But for every Millais — or Mozart — there are many prodigies whose gifts do not survive puberty.
"Most brilliant 8-year-old pianists or footballers don't maintain it into adulthood," said Jack Boyle, a Glasgow-based child psychologist. He advises the Williamsons not to worry too much. Kieron's talent is unlikely to do him any harm.
"Children like being successful and they like being the best," Boyle said. "My advice? Take the money and run. Milk it for every penny, but don't harm the child in the process.
Michelle Williamson says she and her husband won't be disappointed if Kieron one day stops painting, as long as he is happy.  "We know that whatever he ends up doing, Kieron is going to give it 200 per cent.
"Kieron says he knows what he wants to be when he grows up — "painter and footballer."
And he is willing to offer advice for other aspiring artists.
"Never give up. Try and keep your buildings straight. And don't do a plain blue sky."
Rock on Kieron.

89 comments:

  1. Anybody home???Helloooooo!!

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  2. Anonymous9:46:00 PM

    Hi cutie...how ya doing? is it cooler there? We had a little rain this evening.
    How's Nana/Brian?

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  3. Anonymous9:48:00 PM

    Nobody here but the 'Witchy Voodoo' choochie gal.[giggles]
    Who is at your hide-out? hahaha

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  4. Hi..
    It is a bit cooler now. Are you jealous??
    Nana is okay, mean and nasty.
    Brian is not too good. He has gone to bed.
    I am brilliant and beautiful. How are you sweetie?

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  5. Anonymous9:52:00 PM

    I'm good...Brian didn't over do it this weekend...HUH ???
    What you giving him??
    Just me and my bunch hanging out together this weekend.

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  6. Maxy is snoring under my desk.It's very quiet here just as I like it. I like the quiet night hours. They belong to me to do anything I want.

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  7. Maxy is snoring under my desk.It's very quiet here just as I like it. I like the quiet night hours. They belong to me to do anything I want.

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  8. Brian's heart is a bit twitchy. He has taken his heart medication and gone to bed.

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  9. Anonymous9:54:00 PM

    Got Leon squared away and Dad is with Sis and aunt Mae.
    Did you go shopping with Dale/Barb today???
    Yes I am very jealous, it's still hot but not as much.

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  10. Anonymous9:57:00 PM

    Peace and quiet is what you both needs. Did Brian go to work today ???

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  11. No, Brian was home today and Barb and Dale have been put off until Thursday. We decided we need a day to put our feet up.

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  12. Anonymous10:01:00 PM

    I seen Kieron on the news last night and I think his mom and daddy has the right idea...just support him...I knew you was going to have the story... avery good one.

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  13. Are the girls back to school yet. Are they excited to be going back?

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  14. Anonymous10:02:00 PM

    You both needed to put your feet up, you had a very busy and full weekend.

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  15. Kieron is amazing we are producing a generation of kids who are mature before their time. Look at that little ten year old opera singer.

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  16. Kieron is a great kid and he is a brilliant artist. They say talented kids lose their talent when they reach puberty.I hope he doesn't lose his.

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  17. Anonymous10:06:00 PM

    I will enroll them Wednesday and yes they are excited and Jill wants to take her baby with her. She sit him down and explain to him why he can't go and he just laughed his musty butt off..

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  18. Gilly doesn't need school. He already knows everythig.

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  19. I see old Mel is in the news again.I'll bet my false teeth that he had been drinking and the cops let him off as usual.

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  20. Anonymous10:11:00 PM

    I hope he don't lose it. We would have a lot more talented kids if parents would nurture them instead of using them as a meal ticket.
    I think the Williamson will do the right thing by Kieron.

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  21. So Betts was a dirty old bitch, literally.Interesting. There wasn't anything admiable about her at all. Except the big boobies.

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  22. Anonymous10:14:00 PM

    You know the fool was drunk as usual,I couldn't think os words bad enough to say about him.
    I was so mad at the Lohan's...I wish Lilo could read my advice to her.
    What you think about what I said to her, sometime I scare myself.

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  23. She didn't clean but did she cook?

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  24. She didn't clean but did she cook?

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  25. Do you ever watch 'Love it or List it'?

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  26. Anonymous10:19:00 PM

    That house was about 6/7 months old and she manage to screw it up, she wanted a housekeeper because I had one...I really didn't need one but Mamie came in handy when we went on outing and with my babies, shit it was just two of them, where it's 5 of us and 6 when dad is here.

    Want to hear something funny??

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  27. Anonymous10:22:00 PM

    What station do it come on...
    Never heard of 'Love it or List it.'
    Sounds like a pretty good program.

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  28. You gave Lindsay great advice. Sadly she won't take it. She has a sick need for her mother.She will never shake those two off her back.She will carry them and financially support them until they die.And they will suffocate their daughter.

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  29. Anonymous10:25:00 PM

    Don't you think those Lohans is a pair of nuts.

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  30. Anonymous10:27:00 PM

    I think she will support them until she die...Lilo seems to be going the same road as so many of the young people in Hollywood.

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  31. We get the show on the 'Sel'women's channel 60.

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  32. Anonymous10:34:00 PM

    Sweetie...I will have the common sense to teach my babies to live their lives and be happy and not try to relive my life through them.

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  33. Anonymous10:36:00 PM

    I will look it up ...it sounds pretty good. I will have to look for the name to get the channel.
    Do it come on every day ??

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  34. Anonymous10:37:00 PM

    Is it listed in the TV Guide ??

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  35. Lindsay was a child star so they have been exploiting her since she was four.

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  36. It's all they know. Do you know if they are grooming any other of their children to be child stars?

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  37. it should be in your TV listings. it is a Canadian show but you get most of our design shows.
    The concept is a married couple who' s fed up with their house, usually too small for a growing family or too old. So a designer comes in and completly redesigns the house while a real estate agent shows them homes which are their dream homes which they could probably afford. Then they show the couple their redesigned home and it is always stunning.
    They ask the couple if they are going to stay in their house or sell it...Love it or List it.

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  38. Anonymous10:45:00 PM

    I know she wants her daughter Ali to be a star and I heard she was negotiating a deal with one of her sons.

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  39. That Lohan woman just sends the kids out to earn a living for her.She is some leech.

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  40. Anonymous10:48:00 PM

    It should be easy to find, I watch a lot of Canadian programs here, I bet it's something like 'Sell this old House' on A&E.

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  41. Anonymous10:52:00 PM

    I asked once if you had dial-up, I missed your answer. So again I ask...If you are on your PC can someone still called you.
    We can only get dial-up here for now.

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  42. My computer is not connected to our phones.Anyone can call me.

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  43. Anonymous11:01:00 PM

    How is Justin knee ? Hope the knee can be treated with meds and therapy.

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  44. Anonymous11:04:00 PM

    They are working to get ours here that way...that's the way it was when I lived on the lake..that's why I keep the cell nearby.

    Do you have a phone in your hidey-hole ??

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  45. Anonymous11:05:00 PM

    I am full of questions tonight HUH??

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  46. We don't know about Justin's knee yet. Steve blew a knee playing hockey.It bothers him now he's older.

    I have a phone in my 'Hidey Hole'.Fucking thing rings all the time.

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  47. Anonymous11:08:00 PM

    I bet J/P and the twins had a ball with you and Brian Sunday...did it rain and you had to stay inside??

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  48. Anonymous11:11:00 PM

    Well that's good to know it's close by, because I know what time you go to your hidey-hole...that's a good thing it won't wake anyone up.

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  49. Anonymous11:15:00 PM

    I found the poem you wrote Gilly when he was born.

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  50. It was rainy and thundering Sunday. So we went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant and went back to their house to play some cards.

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  51. Anonymous11:19:00 PM

    That's what your note said ...
    I couldn't believed how long mine were until I posted it...I said shit, this will take PIC all day to read...[giggles]

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  52. We have to find some other celebs to talk about but you have probably noticed that there isn't so much to write about except lindsay. You don't even hear so much about Mel right now. He is trying to go low profile right now as if he could.I think I will talk about Obama on SH and other world figures.

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  53. The twins are with Bio and he didn't say where he was taking them for a week and I couldn't get the boys to talk about it. I think he asked them to keep it a secret.

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  54. Anonymous11:27:00 PM

    That sounds good...
    Obama has his ass in hot water about what he said about the mosque.
    Mel has been out of the country, I was surprise to find that one.
    There's always the new shows, it will be nice to say sometine positive about them once in a while.
    The new guy on CSI:M is cheating on LeAnn Rimes.

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  55. I heard he was cheating. I don't like him anymore

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  56. They should realize they ruin their image with a lot of women when they treat their women badly and cat around.

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  57. Anonymous11:31:00 PM

    He should never asked them to keep it a secert because something could happen and you need to get in touch with them.
    I could say a lot of things about this but I won't...it's not my place to interfere...but lordy I wish I could. Who knows where they are going.

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  58. He will never make it as a big star. He doesn't have that star quality. You know what I mean. You can just sense they have something extra.

    When they are big stars, then they can get away with anything.

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  59. Anonymous11:34:00 PM

    LeAnn got him away from his wife and she knew this was coming...once a cheater always a cheater...just ask me , I know first hand.

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  60. You cannot reason with BIO. He is not a normal guy. He kind of operates under everyone's radar. He hangs with a fast bunch of guys.

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  61. Anonymous11:39:00 PM

    Some women is so stupid to hang on to a no good man knowing he's making a fool of you...my ex learn me my lesson and I learned real well.

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  62. At least J is with a nice Canadian boy now. He has his faults. He is a bit lazy and he is a bit boring but he loves those boys and is a good father. He takes good care of them.

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  63. Anonymous11:42:00 PM

    I would stick so much child support on his sorry ass, he would leave town...Hahaha
    But I still say it's wrong to tell them to keep a secret.

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  64. The 'New Guy' has a lot in common with DC. Maybe that's why DC doesn't like him. He doesn't like to work with a mirror image of himself.Those guys have no respect for women.

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  65. Anonymous11:46:00 PM

    I don't think he's lazy, because he's laid back ...he's doing the most important thing a daddy can do, he's there for them and takes good care of them.
    As I've said so many times money is not everything , his wife/kids are happy with him, that's really all that matters.

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  66. Anonymous11:53:00 PM

    People put to much stock in what you have and don't have. I was asked once what happen to me.
    2 sisters are school teachers and one sister is a retired nurse and 1 brother taught high school and one is a retired college professor.
    Hell I happen to me.

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  67. Craig is a re-run. Did you make any of the girl's clothes. Nan told me you still make a lot of clothes for close family.I wish i was that clever. At least I can alter pants now. I have to do a couple more for him now. Where they put that huge incision is still swollen and very tender.

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  68. Sounds like your family is full of bright people.You're very bright too. You don't give yourself credit. You could do anything you put your mind to.

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  69. Anonymous12:04:00 AM

    yes I made quite a few clothes, I made some of their shorts to wear under their dresses/shirts..
    PIC...I just can't see paying the prices for shabby made clothes.

    I am so glad you can let out the Rock's pants...what did he say ?
    The incision will be tender for a while...when it get well you can take them up the same way...we don't throw away nothing, we just recycle..Nan's grand catch Gilly's clothes.

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  70. Anonymous12:05:00 AM

    I carried the girls to the fabric store and let them pick out fabric and patterns, they just love it.

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  71. They would love picking the colors and styles. They are women after all, just little.

    If you have the talent you might as well use it. You can make them far better than the stuff out there. They don't put things together well anymore.Even designer brands are disappointing.

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  72. Anonymous12:12:00 AM

    [giggles] I know how to work the choochie,hahaha
    Sis is the retired nurse. Chris and James is in real eatate and Jon is the retired college professor. the other two was in insurance but they are retired now.

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  73. Brian knows I don't care for sewing too much.So he appreciates anything I make even if it might be a little lopsided.

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  74. Anonymous12:14:00 AM

    What did Brian say when you told him you let out his pants ? If there's anything else I can help you with just ask...sewing/quilting is so relaxing.

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  75. Anonymous12:17:00 AM

    I bet after the first pair you got the hang of it.
    It beats taking them to a tailor and they split as soon as he sit down.

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  76. I would love to know why you gave up your dress shop. I think that would have turned into something great eventually like your own designer clothes.

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  77. Anonymous12:20:00 AM

    I think you are busting with talent.
    Writing...Painting ...drawing...and a computer geek.

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  78. I let a lot of opportunities go. I was doing editorial cartoons for a newspaper.When I moved out of that town I just let it go. If I had worked at it for a couple more years I could have become syndicated.Of course I had to move away from the big city because I was so sick at the time.

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  79. Anonymous12:24:00 AM

    My ex had an offer to go to Hollywood and be a writer and he took them up on it and I sold my shop to follow him.
    He wrote and directed plays at our Little Theatre here and the rest is history.

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  80. Anonymous12:25:00 AM

    I still have a lot of my old contacts, they want to talk about starting a shop.

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  81. That guy has a lot to answer for. he fucked up your life good.

    You got the best revenge. You are happy as a pig in shit and you have kids and a lovely home and want for nothing.That must really bother him.

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  82. Anonymous12:32:00 AM

    Don't you feel better now and I bet you are much more happier now, I know I am.

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  83. We better call it a night Toots.You got to get back into your routine.

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  84. I don't know how you kept your brood entertained all summer. Although they are still pretty young and easier to entertain.Will you miss them or be out in the street with the other mothers dancing and yelling "Free at last."

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  85. Anonymous12:38:00 AM

    He will come and see Sis when he's here, his sister is married to one of my brothers...he always asked Sis if I'm still with that guy. The last time he was here , Chris was at Sis and answer the door, asked who he was looking for , he said he was visiting and Chris told him his sister lived on the back street.

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  86. That guy still has feelings for you. I wonder if he has changed. He would like to get into your pants.

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  87. Anonymous12:42:00 AM

    Not free yet, still got my little man...
    I will miss them, they are growing up to fast.

    Sweetie ...I will say goodnight and see you round the old camp ground tomorrow.
    GOODNITE...HUGS & KISSES...PIC
    Kiss the ROCK.

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  88. Anyway honey you go to bed and dream of that lovely feeling you had when the pan hit his head.I always laugh when I get that picture in my mind although it sure wasn't funny at the time was it?
    Meet you in the garden on the old plantation, beside the fountain.I'll bring you iced tea. Sweet dreams....Luv PIC

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  89. Anonymous12:46:00 AM

    Not anymore he can't get in my pants...He never made me say ..oh boy there it is...whoopie that's good. hahaha...this man makes me reach for the stars and now I will go for the moon...oh yeah.

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Through this ever open gate
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