The gift of giving

It is said, ’tis better to give than to receive.  And this year, I’ve been feeling that way.  There are three very special people that I have hand crafted an item for this year.  If this would have been four years ago, there would have been a fourth, but sadly, my grandfather is no longer with us.

Part of the process of my gift giving this year has been making it.  Quite possibly the hardest part has been the writing.  As the picture shows, I’ve made three hand bound editions of The Adventures of Black Mask & Pale Rider.  One of which will go to my parents (the one I’m holding in the photo to be precise).

The second will go to my mother from another brother.  Confused?  Let me explain.  I’ve mentioned Pearce before, and even had links to his blog.  He and I met in the mid 90’s while I was working evenings as a country disc jockey at CJGX Radio in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.  We found a lot of similarities between us.  He was from Invermay, Saskatchewan, I was born there.  We both liked to write.  And oddly enough, my mom taught his mom singing lessons.  We’ve often had people mistake us for brothers in the past, such as one time I can remember vividly in Rosetown.  We both worked at CJYM, the local radio station.  I remember we wanted to watch a movie and called the local video store/bulk food store (I kid you not, video rentals in a bulk food confectionary) to reserve it.  After I was done my news shift, I went to see if it was available, where I was told…

“Your brother came to pick it up.”

“My… excuse me?”

“You know.  Pearce.”

“Oh!  Okay.”

And so it went from there.

Val, Pearce’s mom, has always had a creative mind and is an incredible movie buff.  I swear, she needs to live in a larger house complete with one screening room for all the videos and DVD’s she has.  And she’s always shown a great interest in writing.  Ergo, she will receive the second copy of the crafted book.

Last, but not least, Zodi.  She has been there since the beginning of the writing process, she has edited the story diligently and she has always kept up with what was happening.  She will receive the third copy.

I mentioned earlier that if my grandfather was still alive, he would be getting one as well.  For now, I will make one in my heart for the man who introduced me to the classic western.  Without my grandfather, I never would have had such an interest.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Until next time…

…keep ’em flyin’.