LEGO® Love
By Charlie

LEGO Love

Written by Charlie O'Shields

 

This is a little scene of Philippe and I reimagined in LEGO. It’s sitting on a shelf in our house in front of a little LEGO Eiffel Tower. I hadn’t built any sets since I was a child, but last Christmas Philippe bought me some small Star Wars themed sets of these magical bricks and I was hooked all over again. It’s so much fun!

We collect the LEGO architecture sets and have managed to collect them all, including the latest which is of the Louvre, so it’s extra cool! It’s fun and relaxing to sit down in the afternoon and go through each of the miniature steps in the process on the way to completing a masterpiece. While having instructions is fun, every kid big and small knows the real joy of LEGO comes when you just sort of go for it and create your own thing.

If it looks like we’re celebrating in this brick scene, it’s because we were! Philippe had just received his green card, which was a major milestone in our path to being able to stay together. Binational relationships are insanely challenging for anyone, but for a couple of similar gender like ourselves, it was truly daunting.

When Philippe came here for his job, we gained proximity, but it was still not possible to marry and get a green card at the time. We just sort of assumed things would somehow work out although we didn’t have a plan on how that might happen since most of it was out of our control. France was an option, but my French is so ridiculously poor that it was a long shot of an option. (My French is still really poor. At this point, the dog speaks better French than I do)

We finally ended up getting married during the weekend of my movie premier in California last year. I remember Tiffani Theissen telling us, “You just got married! Congratulations! What the hell are you doing here?! You should be on your honeymoon!” She was right, of course, but we hadn’t planned that far ahead.

It’s surprising how much we accomplished with so little planning, but when you’re trying to close a 4500 mile gap between you, it’s probably better that way. The obstacles seem too daunting. Better to just start going for it and see what happens. The one thing I’ve learned is that if you just keep moving forward, you can eventually build a masterpiece. Just take it brick by brick.

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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46 thoughts on “LEGO Love”

  1. I so heart this…both because it’s you and Philippe in LEGO and because…well, LEGO! 😀 Could Phineas please speak a few phrases en francais pour moi, s’il te plait? Hahaha! (sorry, didn’t bother doing the accents) So awesome about you guys being married now AND his getting his green card!

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  2. What a wonderful story! I’m glad you and Philippe were able to find a way to be together! I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been..

    I love Legos and other building toys like Lincoln Logs and Kinex. When my son was younger, I bought him all kinds of kits hoping that he would love to build. He did enjoy building but not like I did. Lol. Do you know @sketchererik on IG? He is also a huge Legos fan and a wonderful watercolor artist!

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  9. A very touching story, I’m so happy for you and Philippe. What a cute couple in Lego form. You should send your sketch to Lego maybe they will make you a Charlie and Philippe dining set, 😍.

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  10. A sweet story Charlie! 💜 Happy you found a special “connection” with Philippe and you are able to spend your lives together. And I LOVED Legos as a kid! Barbie and Ken too but I guess that is a whole other topic. LOL! 😊

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  11. Legos were always my favorite! Love this doodlewash, Charlie! So so cool! And I love your parting wisdom – it is amazing what we humans can do when we just keep taking one step forward. Your and P’s relationship is living proof of that! Congratulations, and early Happy Anniversary to you both!

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  14. So lovely! Good things happen to good people, thank you for sharing and a big congratulations on being married, getting a green card, loving each other through and through and of course, sharing it with all of us.

    I love Legos. The creative director from Legos came and visited the creative team at Target and gave us all five bricks and basically said “go” and for about three minutes all you could hear was the clicking of bricks. The out come was amazing, everyone had come up with unique solutions and of course a big love for Legos.

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  15. Warming and wonderful – so loving this series Charlie! I grew up with K’Nex and rather miss that, but likewise used to love Lego. I think when I was about eight or nine my parents thought me too old for it and gave it away! Heart-breaker.

    Lego always has me waxing nostalgic for Boxing Days past – there was no better way to spend it than sticking blocks together!

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  19. Delightful painting, looks a bit challenging with all those shapes and textures, but beautifully rendered. Thank you for sharing your love story, such a wonderful testament to the saying “Love conquers all.” (And it does not hurt to have a few Legos thrown in for spirited fun! ;D)

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