Anchor of Friendship

There is an elderly gentleman and his good wife that allow my son and I to visit them on a regular basis.  He is turning 89 tomorrow, but is as young at heart and as chipper as they come.  While completely blind, he still is out on the sidewalk every morning getting his exercise as he moves around his apartment complex greeting the neighbors.  He and his wife are like surrogate grandparents to me and my family.  Every time we come they have new stories, and we just laugh, enjoy each other's company, and I marvel at his good nature and happiness despite having been through so much.  He proudly served in the Navy during the Korean war and has great stories about his time on the sea, but I doodled this anchor and life buoy envelope, not so much for his service there, but because of the anchoring friendship and uplifting influence he has on me and my son as we go and visit them regularly.  Happy Birthday to him!  And I hope he'll be around a while longer so that I can keep hearing his amazing stories.

This was done in pen and ink, and gouache.