My Gift to You

A website.

Yes, a website.

I'll be honest, when Vlad said "CRAFT SOMETHING!" I was like "Motherfucker... I know how to craft only two things, writing, and hats for some fucking reason". Well, hats wasn't going to happen. It turns out there's only one witch in the group and I've already crafted the perfect hat for her. I struggled for a bit on WHAT to make. What could represent Dane? What could be joyful, exuberant, intense, fun, humorous, feminine, and dark all at once? For some fucking reason my immediate thought was "A perler Jigglypuff!". Yes, before this I considered a children's craft... don't judge.

Then, of course, right after discussing it with Nadya, going to Walmart and buying the materials, I got a bright idea. I stood in front of my open car door, the silly plastic bucket of perler beads in my hand, thinking "What am I good at making? What could also have a little bit of me? Of our friendship? A representation of the complexity of relationships?"

"A website..."

It didn't take long before the idea, now firmly planted, germinated into a whole plan. The thing I obsessed over for a few days. This is the result. This is not just a representation of you, but also of our friendship--from the silly, to the cute, to the serious... maybe even the disturbing. I dedicate this "Craft" of my own to you. Allow it to be your own space of solace and remembrance that you are not alone. Though there's still a little bit of work left to be done, I want this to be a footprint of this moment of your life, a mark of the people that surround you and a signifier of the road still left ahead in your life.

You're one year older today, and you are not alone in that moment.

Happy Birthday on today the fairest of days, Mrs. Matojo.