I can be a bit snobby sometimes. I’m somewhat prim.

So when a caricature artist showed up at the very fancy restaurant where my sister was having her wedding rehearsal dinner, ready to draw all of our portraits, I may have sniffed a bit disapprovingly.

Matt and I were up first. There was no way out. After all, it’s not proper to insult my sister or her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

The artist—a large man who looked a bit like Steven Seagal, with a long ponytail wearing a Samuel L. Jackson beret—asked us in a loud raspy voice to tell him about ourselves. Matt said, “Well, we live on a farm.”

And that’s all it took.

Perhaps it because the farm has become so central to my identity, and I love it so much. Perhaps it’s that Wiley was included in our family portrait. Perhaps it’s because Matt and I are obviously having really, really good hair days.

I love our caricature. The artist was amazing. He captured us well (although I absolutely do not have those cheekbones IRL, and I don’t recognize that chin that Matt’s sporting). He was very friendly and obviously very skilled at his craft.

This picture is being carefully protected until I find a frame and hang it in the basement. I think it fits in perfectly with the fun atmosphere I’m trying to create down there.

So lesson of the caricature: loosen up, have a little fun, be open to new experiences, don’t worry so much about what’s proper. In this simple caricature, I found a bit of extra happiness, both in the moment of the portrait and now whenever I look at it.

Thanks to my sister, her mother-in-law and our amazing artist, Cartoon Bob.