I received a facebook message from a page call Chains of Cranes. Not sure what I was opening, I went ahead and begun reading the message from earlier in the day. It went something like this...a shared friend of ours said I should reach out to you in regards to my cranes.
My curiosity was peaked, over the years I've been approached by many a friend of a friend, and the possibilities of where it can go from there are limitless. Connections are made instantly all over the world at any given time and speed through space faster than a speeding locomotion. Word travels fast, especially in small towns, and opportunities waste no time being seeded and nurtured to hopefully turn into something bigger than life. I agreed to meet Michael at the store to learn more about his story and what was brewing with Chains of Cranes.
We immediately hit it off. I found a certain comfort in talking with him and uncovering the odd synchronicities that were shaping up with all that he was doing in life and the direction I was heading in both personally and with A Little Something. When you meet someone you instantly take a liking to things seem to flow with a certain ease. Conversation never dies down, laughter and giggles erupt, and you look forward to future encounters. Michael first came into the store in November of 2022, now yearly a year later, the Chains of Cranes have their own dedicated wall, they are always in the top three category, best selling artist, and we have just recently added them to our limited online shop of local artists & authors.
On any given Saturday morning you will most likely find Michael restocking his Chains of Cranes and Affirmation Cranes. He always enters with a smile and has extended his creative abilities to help the store reach higher levels and wider audiences. He is now responsible for our beautiful floral arrangements surrounding the exterior of the store. He often rolls up his sleeves and helps me keep the floor culled, decorative trim hung from the rafters, and check out customers when the lines get long. It's never been something we've discussed out loud, it just seems to have taken shape along the way.
The best part of being a Shopkeeper in Maine is knowing anything is possible and never is not a part of my vocabulary. In our common bond of both having very different histories of domestic violence we have bonded in the most unexpected friendship of sibling rivalry. He is my brother from another and I'm not only grateful for the space he has created with his Chains of Cranes and Affirmation Cranes, but for the place in his heart he has opened up for me to sit and stay awhile as our journeys have lined up along the way.
If you haven't stepped into the store in a bit, I would recommend coming by and checking out our reasonably new "crane corner" near the register. It's filled with hundreds of folded cranes, crystals, colorful beads, and huge intentions of love, security, peace, and gratitude.
