May I borrow your skeleton?

"it will only be for a moment or two"

Yesterday found lots of people in the shop, last minute grab for a wedding card, birthday gifts bought ahead and wrapped, tied with satin ribbon, and old friends coming to catch up. The day wrapped around my heart as Michael and I schemed about creating Christmas magic in the store next month. The big box stores have been decked for the holidays for weeks, small shops seem on a different expectation of timing by the community and all. Usually at this time of year, local artists beginning dropping off their holiday items. It’s too much to receive all at once, I’m only one shopkeeper. Michael has become more volunteer confidant, program manager, and general ear to all thoughts and considerations. The chains of cranes have become a foundation stone of A Little Something and we’ve incorporated a piece of them in our great holiday giveaway this year.

By late afternoon the day slowed down and I found myself at the counter tagging new items that had come in earlier in the week. I noticed an older, wiser man browsing about the store. He was dressed in solid back and his bright white hair made a bold statement. I said hello and he nodded in response. I returned my eyes to my work while I provided space for him to do his thing. After a bit he broke the silence with an unusual request. “May I borrow your skeleton?”

I laughed and turned my body towards him. I put down my pen and moved my focus away from the task at hand. I smiled as he explained gently what he was going to do with it. He assured me it would only take a moment or two. The skeleton belongs to Michael, he had brought it to dress up his display of Halloween Cranes in the store for the month. I knew he would think it was amusing to have the prop farmed out across the street for a couple in love. The man explained that he was a photographer not a priest and this was his last assignment. He had come out of retirement to capture the lovely couple’s union. I relaxed into my spot. The man could talk and very much like Mr. Miagi he offered bits of wisdom, in prose, to help make my life a bit more purposeful. There seems to be a lot of that going around here lately in the store. I’ve had a handful of unexpected visits each carrying with them a tasty morsel of advice and guidance for a “good life.”

I shared with him that this week in the store has felt a bit like a scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” He nodded as I imagined Mr. Miagi doing so in The Karate Kid. I tried to estimate his height, it was all too uncanny. I kept my gaze locked onto his. He seemed to be on a mission to impart something onto me, I amused myself willingly.

“I’ve never worked a day in my life. I find joy and amusement in each moment.”

“It’s time for me to discover something new, time for me to keep growing.”

“I like to make people laugh. Happy people are healthy people.”

“I help people out where I can, that is what life is all about.”

The bride and groom were finishing dinner and he had more shots that he wanted to take. I asked him if he enjoyed his dinner at the Stagehouse Inn. He replied, “very much so.” He thanked me for obliging his request to use the skeleton. I let him know that is was no problem. I went back to tagging items and thinking about artist statements that were due the next day. Out of the corner of my eye I caught movement on the back porch of the inn. I moved closer to the door and pulled my phone out of my back pocket and held it up to the scene before me. I watched as he played with the couples stances and they laughed in response. I thought ‘job well done’ as he took his last photos of his career and wondered what he would be doing next to fill his time each day. I snapped a couple photos of my own and let the scene seer a place in my mind for some time. Life is just really a string of snapshots sewn together through time. We have such a short window to take the ones that make us happy. He had shared how he had asked the couple for a donation rather than giving them a rate. As he told me, he likes to help people out where he can.