Lola's Doodles

My sister, Lola, has had a rough life. Most of the time, she spends her efforts doodling interesting images and creating worlds on paper to help manage the days that may be a little rougher.

When Lola was only 6 years old, she was diagnosed a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit. Our family was told that Lola would need surgery, or she would die.  She was given only a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery.  Even if she did survive she would remain a "vegetable" for the rest of her life.  These are not words that any of the family wanted to hear.

With prayer and nothing but hope on our side, we had no choice but for Lola to have the surgery.  Just before surgery, Mom told Lola she would be "fine".  Lola said, "I know, Jesus is here."  

Later, when I talked to Lola about it she said that Jesus said she would be okay and that he would be with her during surgery.  He also told her that she could go with him then or she could remain in this world for longer.  However, if she stayed, it would be hard.  Lola told him she would stay because if she went, her mom would be sad.

Her life been hard.  Lola obviously survived the surgery.  Today she is legally blind, which is only getting progressively worse as we all age.  Lola graduated from high school and went on to get a master's degree. None of these incredible achievements were easy for her, but with her determination and bottomless faith, she made it all work.

Lola had another experience at the age of 25.  She had a pressure cooker explode onto her body causing 2nd to 3rd-degree burns over 42% of her skin.  Lola then lost everything at age 33, when Katrina hit New Orleans causing her to move to Texas and restart her life.  After about 5 years, she was in the middle of a move and had half of her stuff stored at a friend's apartment when that building caught on fire, and again, Lola lost her belongings.

No matter how tough life continues to be, Lola still keeps going. In 2021 we lost our older brother to COVID, months after losing our step-father. About half a year later, Lola and my mother lost everything in another fire, including a beloved dog that had been a constant companion for 9 years.  On the anniversary of our brother's death her ex-husband died.  Even through a divorce, they had remained close friends.

As you can see, Lola has had a lot to deal with and to cope she doodles.  I have taken some of her creative pictures and transformed them into products you see today.  All of these products based on Lola's Doodles go to help her rebuild and strengthen the life she leads, so no matter what comes next, Lola will continue to thrive.