Framed Original Watercolor

“Breathe Free” – Painting to Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day from the perspective of a fictional British military spouse. 

8 May, 1945 

Dear Diary, 

We heard the church bells first—ringing loud and wild like they had a life of their own. Then came the shouting. People in the street, hugging, laughing, crying. “It’s over!” someone screamed. I didn’t believe it until the wireless confirmed it. Germany has surrendered. The war in Europe is finally, finally, over.

There were crowds in the village center, in the streets, on rooftops. A sea of hats, handkerchiefs, lipstick smiles. We joined hands with strangers and sang until our voices cracked. I saw a woman kneel in the middle of the street and sob. No one stopped her.

The pubs ran out of beer by midday, and someone passed me a lukewarm cup of tea and said, “To peace.” I drank it like champagne.

I tucked Thomas in tonight with his windows wide open No blackout curtains. For the first time in what feels like a lifetime, we let the moonlight in. I think to myself, “We did it. We survived.  We didn’t give into the terror, the fear, the unknowns.”

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but tonight—tonight we breathe freely.