He commissioned me to do a painting of his family. As he was selling me on the idea, he said, “Well, we’re actually almost related.” We are? “Sure. My brother’s ex-wife is now married to your cousin.” All right. That made complete sense to me. I did the painting. We were, are, all connected.

Someone once told me, about love, “You just decide,” he said. “You make the decision to love someone.” I was young and still wanted to believe in only the magic of it all. But I get it now. Making the decisions, sometimes daily, to love, is not taking away the magic – it may be the most magical of all. When we can see the people around us. See the connections, no matter how far or ridiculous they might be — take all of the absurd, and choose to make it sublime – what could be more magical than that?

Dominique’s family, now my family, is becoming rather a United Nations of sorts. I wandered into my first rainbow at his family’s reunion. A coloring of cousins. French, German, Polish, Italian, South Korean, American, and the list goes on. This growing French family is growing, one decision at a time. His mother’s brother’s son, is married to a lovely woman from Thailand. Their children – twins – beautiful. Do they look like Dominique. Not at all. Like me? Ha! But they look like family. They were nice to me. And that was more than enough. We decided to love each other.

When I saw her picture on Facebook, I knew I had to paint her. She was with her mother’s mother — a woman I may never meet, but we are connected as well. The gentle beauty of her grandmother seemed to radiate in her face. I wanted to capture that warmth, that light. I grabbed my pastels and paper. The decision had already been made.

We have some choices to make today. With our family. Our friends. With the people near and far. We can connect or push. Maybe the first step is just deciding to decide. Choosing the magic after all. Choosing love.