Fly me to the Moon

Fly me to the Moon

As I sat beside the Christmas tree this year, I realized that most of my ornaments were handmade by someone. My kids mostly but beyond that, my sister. If you knew my sister Margie, you have something from her that she made for you. She always had the most thoughtful handmade gifts. 

This may surprise a lot of people, but I am not very crafty. It is too much like baking. You have to read all the directions and if you don't do it exactly the way it says, it will turn out crappy. But I do like art. Art is more like cooking. You look at the ingredients, get the gist of what to do, and then do it your way.

Margie and I were a lot alike but she was more of a tidy, crafty baker and I am more of the messy, artsy cook. I love being surrounded in art and things people made. It is a similar feeling of being surrounded in books. Handmade gifts are like visual representations of the people who make up our stories.

It just so happened when I was thinking about all of this, I was writing thank you notes for our wedding. And on our wedding day I wanted to take a picture of me in my wedding dress at my dads gravesite. so before we went to our after party we stopped at the graveyard to snap some photos.

We heard a man pull up to the grave site and ask if we wanted him to take our picture together. So we could both be in it. And it happened to be an old classmate from high school. He was playing Frank Sinatra. Which is amazing. Because if you knew my dad, you would know that Frank was my dads very favorite of all time. Joe blasted Sinatra as I stood there flabbergasted with all the meaning behind it all. 

I love moments like this. Little nods from the unseen. They make life so sweet and extraordinary. And it brings comfort that we are on the narrow path.  Anyway, I had posted this painting awhile back of a match striking a spark. And Joe, this old friend, said he wanted to buy it but he needed to take care of some other stuff first. Which is perfect. Because now I get to give it to him for a thank you for being a spark of light on our wedding day. I hope it sparks good memories when he looks at it. Because these small decisions, like stopping to take a photo for someone else, become the stories that connect us. And the ones we get to experience that says maybe there is something among the stars that signals us to be true.

And just for fun, here are Sinatra's lyrics he blasted at the graveyard on Marshland road in Apalachin where my dad was buried. And where Josh and I stood in our wedding tux and gown to be sure dad was a little part of our wedding day.

Fly Me To The MoonFly me to the moonLet me play among the starsLet me see what spring is likeOn a-Jupiter and MarsIn other words, hold my handIn other words, baby, kiss me
Fill my heart with songAnd let me sing for ever moreYou are all I long forAll I worship and adoreIn other words, please be trueIn other words, I love you
Fill my heart with songLet me sing for ever moreYou are all I long forAll I worship and adoreIn other words, please be trueIn other words, in other wordsI love … you
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