Living color: Marie Nowell takes comfort in coloring

Marie Nowell, 92, smiles at her daughter, Patricia Silman (not pictured) while coloring to relieve stress Thursday, July 30, 2020, at home in Cape Girardeau. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

The inscription page of a bound, coffee table-type coloring book is seen Thursday, July 30, 2020, at the home of Patricia Silman in Cape Girardeau. The book was colored in crayon by Silman's mother, Marie Nowell, now 92, who began coloring to cope with stress at Silman's urging about five years ago. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

Patricia Silman, right, laughs at a joke told by her mother, Marie Nowell, while Nowell drew in a coloring book to relax Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. Most evenings Nowell can be found here in Silman's home, coloring page after page of coloring books — a habit she picked up at Silman's urging to cope with stress but has since grown to truly enjoy. Featured in the pictures is Nowell's late husband, Robert Lee Nowell, whose death last year came after the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Coloring, Nowell found, helps her relax, especially after emotionally taxing days like the previous day, July 29, when Nowell and her daughter Patricia Silman had visited Robert's grave for his birthday. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

A portrait of Marie and Robert Lee Nowell is seen on display in the room where Marie Nowell does her evening coloring Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. Robert Lee Nowell died last year, but after the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.  (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

Photos, memorabilia and an American flag are seen on display in the room where Marie Nowell does her evening coloring Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. Featured in the pictures is Nowell's late husband, Robert Lee Nowell, whose death last year came after the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Coloring, Nowell found, helps her relax, especially after emotionally taxing days like the previous day, July 29, when Nowell and her daughter Patricia Silman had visited Robert's grave for his birthday. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

Marie Nowell's coloring projects, lovingly stacked and sorted by her daughter, Patricia Silman, are seen in a parlor in Silman's home, where Nowell lives Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Cape Girardeau. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )

Having completed one of her coloring books, Marie Nowell doodles on the book's front cover with her favorite-colored crayon, green. "If ya ain't got green in it," she started. "Ya ain't got no color." Had it not been for the two pages in the book she completed the previous day, Nowell would have finished the entire thing Thursday, July 30, 2020, at her home in Cape Girardeau. (TYLER GRAEF ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian )