And Now for Something Completely Different...

My mom and I went to visit relatives this weekend in St. Louis and surrounding areas.  We stopped off at The Factory in Farmington on the way home to see my Aunt Rita, who was doing a book-signing. As we chatted away, she mentioned how much she enjoyed seeing Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli on a Christmas special recently.  So I thought I'd post one of his videos for my aunt.

However, as I perused through his various Christmas songs, all lovely, I found one that just really stood out.  Not because of the song itself, but for the pairing and the fun of the video.  

So here's a clip from a PBS special featuring Andrea Bocelli and some very special friends. 

Good Advice

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. - Helen Keller"

I went with my mom to visit some relatives on Monday. We were at my Aunt Rita's lovely country home and I noticed that a small cross-stitch I'd done for her was hanging in her kitchen. When asked if I did much cross-stitching now I explained that I always felt like I needed to be making something for someone else in order to work on cross-stitch projects. "No, no, no! You've got to do one for yourself."

Rita is a quilter. She makes quilts for her grand-daughters' graduations, for new babies, for charities, for auctions, you name it, she's made a quilt for it. I treasure a quilt that she, another aunt, and my grandmother made for a family reunion back in 1979.

Aunt Rita explained to me that she once had a similar outlook about her quilting - only making quilts for other people. But one day she realized that she should have samples of her handiwork in her own home, and now it is decorated with lovely quilts and quilted wall hangings.

So I'm taking my aunt's advice to heart and I'm going to cross-stitch the quote above to hang in my home office. It's a favorite and has hung on cork boards in my classrooms for years, but only in simple copied-from-a-book form. Now I'll have a nice cross-stitched version.

Unless you're the oldest person on the planet, I think it's safe to say that there are probably older, more experienced people around. Be sure to listen to your elders - you just might learn something.