Someone Else's Story

Cloud Cult. I only know the tip of the ice berg about this band, but that tip has seduced and broken me.

Connie and Craig Minowa are the heart of Cloud Cult. Here's what she says on the band's web site:

Craig and I were married in 1998 and moved to Duluth, Minnesota where we
made our home. Soon we were blessed with an amazing child whom we named
Kaidin. We laughed and played endlessly and made our little family the
center of our world. Unexpected and unexplainably Kaidin passed away in
2002.

The couple went their separate ways for a time. Connie painted. Craig wrote songs. They found their way back to one another, with help.

Craig wrote over 100 songs about Kaidin. Connie painted for her child. Their friends, good friends, drew near to help carry them through. Through those friendships and Craig's songs, Cloud Cult was born. And they sing about Kaidin and the Kaidin who never got the chance to ride a bike, visit New York, go to fourth grade, have a first kiss.

A fan of the band made this video. Pretty devoted fan base? Just try to find a national music critic who isn't one, too.

And, I dare anyone to listen to "Your Eighth Birthday" (only on iTunes, sorry) without utter dissolution. But. You will not despair. Theirs is the alchemy of linking grief with life's impossible beauty, with the gift of love.

So you leave Cloud Cult, light. Ready to see the miracles you are lucky enough to get. Your story.