Summary

Kevin states that he had been close with his children when they were very young, but once they grew up they distanced themselves from him. He also notes that a well-known painter named Matisse once visited Pablo Picasso's art museum and criticized a painting, then sketched it to take home and study.

Kevin and his family rented a house in Martha's Vineyard every summer; at first, the family enjoyed their time there, but it grew less enjoyable as the children grew older. Every morning over the summer, Kevin would canoe with his son Will: they once capsized while watching an osprey roost. Will told his sister, April, about the osprey and Kevin noted that April laughed with Will at first and then grew quiet. This inspired him to create a small painting called Fledgling Blue, which would later become the inspiration for his...