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Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

A painting of a child with a dog is a reproduction of a famous painting displayed at the now-closed Haussner’s Restaurant in Highlandtown. (Courtesy Rita Buettner)

A surprise painting


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Catholic Review Filed Under: Commentary, The Domestic Church

We didn’t eat at many restaurants when I was a child. But one of the restaurants we visited several times – and which I have many happy memories of – is Haussner’s in Highlandtown.

It was a magical place, with the walls covered in artwork. Dining there was an adventure as you explored the restaurant, went to find the giant ball of string and enjoyed picking out your meal from a robust menu. My siblings and I would vie for the little chocolate chip muffins in the bread basket that came before the meal. We never dreamed of having room for dessert after enjoying the large platters of food.

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a piece reminiscing about Haussner’s. Then last fall, I received an email from a woman named Lisa. She lives on Cape Cod, and she had found that blog about Haussner’s online. She told me that she owned a replica of one of the signature pieces of art at Haussner’s called “Ise Biggest,” a painting of a little girl standing on a book next to a St. Bernard.

Lisa was looking for a new home for the painting, and she generously offered it to me. I was so touched and honored. But I already have a poster of it that my father bought for me on our last dinner at Haussner’s, back when it was closing in 1999. I really didn’t need the painting. But I thought of someone who might love it.

My Uncle Kevin and my Aunt JoAnne, who is my godmother, live outside of Boston. Many years ago, they had a beautiful St. Bernard, a dog named Danny. Although I never met Danny, he is part of family lore. Whenever I see a St. Bernard, I think of Danny – and then I think of JoAnne and Kevin. I also know how much they love Baltimore, and I was sure they were Haussner’s fans, too.

So, I reached out to my aunt to see whether they might be interested in the painting. To my delight, she replied right away to say she would love it. My uncle and aunt, in fact, had once tried to duplicate the painting by taking a photo of their older daughter with their dog when she was about the same age as the child in the Haussner’s masterpiece. I connected JoAnne with Lisa, and they made arrangements to transfer the painting. A few weeks and a road trip later, the handoff occurred, and the painting is now in my aunt and uncle’s home.

What an unexpected and wonderful encounter. It made me think of how God brings people into our lives at different times. He connects us with strangers through shared experiences. He reconnects us with old acquaintances. He introduces us to someone just when we need them – or they need us. He invites us to deepen our relationships with those we already know. What an incredible gift it is that we always have someone to accompany us on this journey through life.

“We have all known the long loneliness,” Dorothy Day told us, “and we have found that the answer is community.”

The answer is community – people who walk with us and guide us, people who support us, people we support, people who pray for us as we pray for them and people who are eager to share what they love with someone else who will appreciate it.

Who would think that a piece of art and shared memories of a restaurant would connect people across the miles? But they did. And they do. I love thinking of how God was watching, guiding us toward one another, always knowing how it would come together. He must have enjoyed seeing how we connected over a much-loved painting of a little girl and a dog.

That little girl, stretching on her tiptoes to try to stand taller than the dog might be thinking, “Ise Biggest.” But we know who is actually the biggest, and God has the greatest love and most wonderful gift awaiting all of us in heaven.

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