handstories

Legacy

    The final project for fifth grade was to choose someone they had learned about during the year and create a project that reflected how that person's story inspired the legacy they wanted to leave. One boy, the one I wrote about here, wanted to write poems.  We worked together to find and shape his thoughts.  On graduation day he posed for a photo for the cover of his project.  Looking at the finished work, I said to him, "You have the soul of a poet. This is beautiful.  Do you remember when I talked to you about taking care of your story?  You have done such a good job of that all spring.  I hope you are so proud of you, I sure am."  

    I wish you could have seen the bursting glow coming out of him.

    If I did nothing else this school year, this moment was enough.

                                            My Legacy by J.

Many people had to go through the pain of being judged by their skin color

                  By being called a name that they weren’t

                  Or a name they would not like to be called

                  By being treated differently with non-worth

Many people thought that this pain wasn’t right

                  It wasn’t fair

                  It wasn’t agreed on

So they tried to make a change

They found many ways to change the way they were feeling

                  By making new ideas to change people’s words

                  By fighting for their rights

Because everybody has the right to be treated the same

Many people would love to have those rights

 

Jackie Robinson was a strong African American hero

                  Who many people believed in

                  Who was the first African American male to be in major league baseball

Jackie Robinson had a hard time

                  Getting along in the major leagues

                  Playing on a baseball field with a crowd saying such mean things to him

                  Being treated like garbage

Jackie Robinson discovered a way

                  To ignore the crowd

                  To find a friend on his team

                  Someone who wouldn’t hide from him or think he’s an animal

Jackie Robinson was

                  As determined

                  As strong

                  As smart

                  As a tiger 

 

J.  is a strong African American

                  Who is athletic

                  Who is smart

                  And who is respected

J.  had a hard time at

                  Making new friends

                  Hearing bad things about his skin color

                  And having people judge him by his looks

J.  discovered a way

                  To go outside

                  To overcome hatred

                  And try to imagine

J.  is

                  As funny as a clown

                  As smart as an engineer

                  And as strong as a body builder

J.  is a hero like Jackie Robinson 

technical difficulties

    Please excuse my absence.  It is the beginning of the annual pollen induced blur.  There is not a lot of stitching going on, let alone thinking.  Things usually settle down after the initial burst of Spring, hopefully, regular programming will resume soon.

what's left behind?

    Mo asked to see the backside of "self-talk".  Here it is.  You can never be sure what the back story is, can you?

    We are just back from a weekend with K's relatives.  There was the graveside service, family gatherings, and quiet times with one of his sisters.  Listening to stories and all of the many perspectives was interesting.  We all hold things in our own way.      

    Leaving for the cemetery with K's sister, I picked up the urn, saying, "It's so heavy."  

    She responded, "It's so small."  

    The bigness of each life is surprising.

by a thread

    I'm calling this collection of words and scraps "self-talk".  Each day, since the new year began, I ask myself what thought do I need to hold on to?  A little morning pep talk, of sorts, a wanting to claim the words and fasten them into my being.  It's especially good on those days when feelings are full of smallness and nevers.  This cloth is not as pretty and flowing as the "2013" piece, and that's ok, it's got a job to do.