Jon’s Birthday, Love and Creativity

When Jon got up this morning to go to the bathroom I went into my office/guest bedroom and got the Raven Pillow I made for his birthday.

I knew he was coming back to bed and put the Raven pillow on top of his pillow.

Giving Jon a gift he really likes is selfish in a way.  He’s hard to find gifts for because if he wants something he just buys it for himself. But when I get it right, he gets a smile of surprise and delight that I don’t see often.

That’s what happened this morning when he saw the Raven Pillow.  Not only did he smile, but he hugged the pillow to his body the same way a kid would embrace a beloved stuffed animal.

I got the idea to make Jon a pillow a few weeks ago.  I noticed how the pillow I made him some years, that he rests his head on in his chair when napping,  was faded and lumpy.  It was the idea of making him a pillow, that got me drawing ravens.  Something I had been wanting to do, but hadn’t for over a year.

Jon was a little low yesterday thinking about his birthday.  He wrote about it on his blog. And although I’m 17 years younger than him, I can still understand that at a certain age a birthday can be both something to celebrate and something that brings us closer to the end of life.

I didn’t try to talk him out of what he was feeling, but I did want him to know how much his life and so his birth means to me.  That it is something to celebrate.

And when I say celebrate I don’t mean a party with lots of people.  I mean finding the words to let  Jon know how much I love him just as he is.  And being able to get him to smile that smile.  

When I let the animals out to graze this morning I picked a bouquet of wildflowers for Jon.  And soon I’ll take him to lunch.  We were going to get breakfast out this morning, but when he saw how much I wanted to get to my studio to work on more ravens, he suggested we get lunch instead.

Besides our love for each other, creativity is another important thing we share.  And for both of us, being able to do our work is always a celebration of life.