85-year-old inspired by Elvis music, war experience to spread joy with sea glass

SIDNEY, B.C. -

Although she’s perpetually playing Presley’s music, and collecting all sorts of the The King’s things, Geraldine Bruckel didn’t become an Elvis fan until he started unexpectedly appearing in her dreams.

“(Elvis) would say, ‘Come on, baby,’” Geraldine smiles, imitating Presley’s iconic southern drawl. “And I thought, ‘Wow!’ And I woke up.’”

Geraldine says the dreams felt so comforting, she was inspired to paint a life-size picture of him.

“He almost lives, you know!” Geraldine says.

To appreciate how Geraldine actually lived, she shows the only photograph that survived her past.

“That’s me here,” Geraldine says, pointing to a black-and-white picture of a two-year-old surrounded by her family.

It was taken in the former Dutch West Indies, before the Second World War.

Geraldine says that a year later, she and her family were forced from their home, separated from each other, and confined to a concentration camp.

“You’re always hungry,” Geraldine recalls. “You’re going to look for food around dirty places.”

The sorts of places the then-three-year-old would also find sticks and stones on the ground, that she would pretend were the people and places she longed to see again.

“I was separated from parents,” Geraldine says. “I would play on my own with these things because it could take the pain away.”

Fast forward to long after the war, when Geraldine suffered a serious medical condition that cut her career in health care short.

“I get into a depression,” Geraldine admits.

But after enduring countless dark days, Geraldine went for a walk on the beach and noticed something sparkling in the sand that made her feel unexpectedly bright.

It was a piece of sea glass shining in the sun.

“I picked it up and I was happy,” Geraldine says. “And I wanted to create.”

Like her younger self had found solace by assembling sticks and stones, Geraldine discovered inspiration through attaching the glass with glue.

“You forget about whatever is bothering you,” Geraldine smiles, showing the hundreds of sculptures she’s created with sea glass, accompanied by a soundtrack provided by Presley.

They range from galloping horses and bouquets of flowers, to swimmers diving and whimsical dragons.

Now Geraldine is opening-up her gazebo-turned-gallery to the public — with the hope that others feeling blue (like “suede shoes”) will feel “all shook up” with joy.

“To make somebody else happy, by doing the things you’re doing, makes me feel real good,” Geraldine smiles.