Simon Griffee
Department of graphic design, art direction, and photography.

The Fighter

Published 2020 April 21

Photo of a red, black and green clay sculpture depicting a figure standing straight, with arms that may be behind it.
Sculpture by Odila Griffee.

These are some things you think you know about The Fighter.

The Fighter’s husband and first child died within a month of each other.

The Fighter worked to bring up her second child who had a problem with his health and needed surgery.

The Fighter went to a nightclub at 6 a.m. to find the person that was to be her second husband and bring him back home.

The Fighter drove herself to the hospital to give birth to her third child and went home 24 hours later.

The Fighter could no longer eat sheep after seeing a dead one inside a fridge, and no meat after watching the 1995 film Babe.

The Fighter loves animals, but is disgusted by snakes.

The Fighter looked at the man, one of a group of three with guns in her home, and said that if he did cut off one of her fingers and killed her as he threatened to do, she would return and haunt him for the rest of his life.

The Fighter survived many bad falls with no broken bones, a difficult surgery on her uterus, and the effects of alcohol and depression on those close to her.

The Fighter lives with cats and plants and objects from her life. She has a “green thumb” and her garden is frequented by many creatures. It is small, but very beautiful.

The Fighter is the very bad day of a fool, especially fools with authoritarian tendencies.

Friends pass by often, especially when The Fighter’s mood is good, and many people from many different places in the world love The Fighter, and The Fighter loves them.

The Fighter found art later in life in the form of sculpture. Her work is her own.

It is difficult for The Fighter to be far from the people she brought up, but she loves them, still.

And they love her.