Burnes of Boston.

The name has an implied essence of aristocracy, doesn’t it? You can almost feel the thick history of the ancient environs, smell the years of class and culture in the finely crafted furniture and high-end décor. But what is Burnes of Boston? I asked myself the same thing until today, when I came across something I need for a special project I am doing to give special gifts to special friends.

One friend is a doctor and his wife, who was my colleague when I was teaching.

The doc gives me pro bono care and writes my mandatory monthly subscriptions—as I have no money to speak of until this writing thing takes off. He and his lovely mate are moving out of state, retiring after many years of hard work and voluntarism. I have needle-pointed a romantic portrait of two lovers, and will be needing the perfect frame for it—to present the gift of thanks and bon voyage next month.

The other friend is my oldest friend, one whom I have been close to for twenty-nine and a half years.

She had been diagnosed with invasive endometrial carcinoma, and has gone through the rigors of hell and back. To keep her positive, her husband has joined her in redecorating their modern living room space in a palm tree motif. So I found a beautiful, classy, Winslow Homer photographic quality needlepoint pattern of an underside view of palms. The piece will, also, need a fitting frame.

This is where Burnes of Boston comes in.

They are not an ancient haberdasher or an antiquated tobacconist. They are a contemporary (and other) custom frame shop. Burnes of Boston features frame styles ranging from modern, polished traveler styles to upscale metropolitan; from Vintage Elegance to French Revival; from craftsman woods to European woods…in mahogany, cherry, blonde, and other Rare Woods colors with a subtle walnut finish and in sizes and dimensions for the single memento, the blown-up glossy photo, or the poster-sized image.

Now that I have found the ideal framer in Burnes of Boston, I need only do the harder job of deciding on the ideal frame—the one that makes the image colors pop or flow, the one that is most suitable for the content and theme of the piece, the one that is best for the friends’ different tastes in home décor and that speaks to who they are, what I feel for them, and how grateful I am that they are still around.

That is, the Burnes of Boston frames, as I see them, will represent what my closest and kindest and best of friends deserve.