My Funny Valentine

When we were getting to know each other and first falling into the love of things we were quite poor. Our activities circled around one another and the small world of our tropical apartment. My lover made gifts to me of music. He would tenderly clean the album with just the right brush, adjust the stereo needle, careful place all the equipment in line, then proudly snuggle up for his reward for giving me such a beautiful gift. His most flourished display came on Valentine's Day when he played My Funny Valentine. Twenty years later we still wink across a crowded room when the song softly- barely audible- comes across speakers no longer his own and instantly makes us younger, hotter, and for that moment- alone in a tropical apartment kissing for only the one hundreth time.
For his birthday I am learning My Funny Valentine on my trumpet. This time I will play the music for him: coming from within my heart to his ears and on down, I hope, to that tender heart of my lover and my friend: my husband Jose.