Stars 1, What You Give to A Child

When I was five my father gave me a star.

I still remember that night. He came downstairs, very late, to tuck me in. He found that I was still awake. My early home life was stormy and falling asleep was not easy for me. I remember how my father wrapped a blanket around me. I remember standing on the grass under the night sky like a queen in a robe and looking out into the vast universe. We watched the Pleiades that August night, enjoying the showers of falling stars. He then pointed and said, “Do you see that star? That is Vega. I am giving Vega to you.”

Many life altering events happened after that time. There were more storms and the life that I knew as a child changed drastically. The world that I knew also changed: John Kennedy was assassinated. My older friends were drafted and sent to Viet Nam. Others moved north. When I was 14 my father, sister and I moved to a run down horse farm. My father worked out of the carriage house, seeking to create a new business. I lived the 60’s.

One evening my father left a piece of paper under my door. The paper held a poem that he had written for me. I read it, loving each word. Stars are important to me, they shine in much of my work. My father was right. I did need, in my sky, a fixed star of my very own. One that is certain, and always overhead.