Mark Phelan Art Exhibit

goodnightiloveyouillseeyouinthemorning new work by mark phelan April 1- May 31, 2025 CoCreative Center, 137 Union St, New Bedford, MA goodnightiloveyouillseeyouinthemorning. She said the phrase quickly as if it hurt to say. But dutifully, she tucked her mother into the home-care hospital bed and made sure she uttered the words clearly enough that her mom heard and understood them. It was an experiment of sorts. If she told her mom she loved her enough, every night for how long (?) maybe her mom would say it back someday. And if not, she resolved to start something new. She would begin an ending for generations of ancestor-mothers so wounded that they could not say “iloveyou” to their children. Of course it would be her to make it happen. Never one who wanted children of her own, she found herself in the most unlikely position of stepmother to three kids not much younger than her. She never really thought of herself as a stepmother though, more of a mentor or friend. Still, for them she discovered her heart was limitless. And for the little ones who came from them later. Who would ever say that those little ones were not hers? She is love to them. In word and deed. The love passed down builds new universes in the hearts of the little ones. And I am blessed enough to be a witness to it. And what of the the love spoken and not embraced? iloveyou carries so much power that I can only imagine a new universe was birthed every time it was uttered. I contemplated my own legacy of love, and bathed in it as I imagined what these universes might look like. Some of them may bear a resemblance to places and events I witnessed as I experienced a legacy of love passed down through generations. The power of love spans eternity and time is meaningless in eternity. And when iloveyou is embraced and internalized and in return given out again, new universes, new legacies are built. The power of goodnightiloveyouillseeyouinthemorning is eternal. So say it, embrace it when it is spoken to you, and be part of the birth of a universe.

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