Dad uses his paintbrush and the Mona Lisa to teach daughter life lessons

When Laurence Cheatham's 9-year-old daughter told him she wanted to draw the Mona Lisa but was afraid it would be too hard, it sparked his creativity.

"I wanted to show her that with time, patience, and practice, she can do anything she sets her mind to," he told Good Morning America. "I wanted to tell her when I finished, 'If Daddy can do it then you can too, because you're even greater than me.'" Over the next three months, when Cheatham came home at night from his full-time job as a security guard, he worked on a painting of his daughter as the Mona Lisa, keeping it hidden in a closet so she wouldn't see it until it was ready.

After 400 hours of painting, Cheatham surprised his daughter with the work of art. She squealed, laughed, and thanked her dad profusely for the gift. Her reaction was "priceless," Cheatham said, and "meant everything to me." Cheatham, who has no formal art training, finds painting "very therapeutic," and wants his daughter to always remember "if you're passionate about something, and it keeps you awake at night, you should always pursue it. Be diligent, hardworking, and never lose sight of why you started." Catherine Garcia

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

YouTube

Watch On