Leslie and Miriam

When my parents were only 8 and 10 years old, living in different provinces and having never met, my father's older brother Leslie, married my mother's older sister, Miriam. Mom's family experienced a lot of tragedy causing them to scatter. Eventually Mom moved in with Miriam and Leslie to attend high school in my father's hometown. She was smitten with him. He was shy and embarrassed that his friends might tease him if he dated his brother's sister-in-law. The rest is history. My uncle Leslie was a very important member of both families. In addition to supporting my mom and uncle for a couple years, Miriam and Leslie also raised Mom & Miriam's youngest sister. He walked Mom down the aisle. We lost him at the young age of 45. While Miriam did remarry and had a 27 year marriage with her second husband, it was no secret that Leslie was the love of her life. She passed away at age 81 in 2021. I ended up spontaneously being one of the pall-bearers to carry her to rest beside Leslie and my grandparents.
As a gift to my parents, last Christmas I painted this portrait of Miriam and Leslie. I had to use a compilation of photos, mostly black and white and grainy, and I aged them at around age 27-30. Leslie's image came easy to me, even though I was 9 years old when he passed. He had a unique look which is frozen in my memory at a certain time. Miriam's face was harder for me to capture because I knew her through all her subsequent stages.