Give away that which you need

About a million years ago, when I worked for the crazy artist at art shows all around the Midwest, I got this pin at a silent auction-fundraiser. I used to wear it quite a lot and then somehow it ended up in the kitchen flotsam and jetsam drawer. You can see where my now-deceased cat Pierre chewed on the middle finger. Pierre liked to chew on things he shouldn't. In the end, that was his undoing.

Anyhow, I thought of this pin today when, during his sermon, our pastor mentioned a bumper sticker he recently saw that said, "Want what you have. Give what you need."

I'd always meant to do some research and find out if the words on my pin were a quote by someone famous. I just loved the sentiment - and the whimsical composition. And the sparkles. It's kind of like an artsy-fartsy Shrinky-Dink from my childhood.

I also thought of this pin about a month ago when I was doing fingerprint art with the fifth-grade class at Colegio Cristiano La Esperanza.

Thumbprint art with fifth-graders?

I thought at first they'd be too old. That they'd think it was stupid. But we'd been melting in the mid-afternoon sunshine during calisthenics and then a Lacrosse game. (The kids exercised. We adults spectated. And perspired.) A quiet craft activity sounded lovely and cool to all. I'd brought stamp pads and markers - and a book of examples I'd found when cleaning out my dad's house a couple of years ago. Printed in the early 1970s, it may have well been one of my mom's inspirations for the thumbprint art projects she did with me. I'm sure it wasn't the first or the only one since we started making thumbprint owls and little Nancy characters together before I could write my name.

Our walking dictionary on the trip, Saul, was temporarily MIA so while the boys continued to play, I with my limited Spanish plunged ahead with about 15 girls eager to get started. They gathered around a desk where I grunted and pointed out the examples in the book, showing them the basic technique and the many creative possibilities. We flipped through the pages, and I'd point and say, "¿qué es?"

"¡mono!" (monkey)
"¡gato!" (cat)
"¡perro!"(dog)
"¡abuelo!" (grandpa)

And so on.

We continued on in this way until Saul got there to help me introduce the project. He told the girls that this was something I'd done with my mom when I was a little girl and that I thought they could teach their younger classmates and/or brothers and sisters. While Saul did that, Irene wrote out a connecting Bible verse on the board, Carolyn and I handed out paper, markers and stamp pads and the girls diligently copied down the texto biblico:

Tú creaste mis entrañas; me formaste en el vientre de mí madre.  Salmo 139: 13

The "lesson" being that ... nobody's fingerprints are the same - we are all unique. And in that same way, God has a plan for each one of us. He knows our innermost beings and knit us together in our mothers' wombs.

And by the way, now we're gonna get our fingers all inky and play with pretty markers!

The girls really got into it and some were quite prolific, making cards for us and cards to take home ...

And when the sweaty boys came in from their Lacrosse game, they were eager to get in on the action, too.

At first, this young lady, Francis, did not seem interested at all. But I noticed later that she had reproduced several of the examples from the book ... and then was helping others. And at the end, she gave me her creation. I will treasure it.

The next day, I took the book back to the school with me and gave it to Francis. At first, finding the book was special because it was something my mom had touched. But then it occurred to me that what was most special was the memory of her sitting down with me and teaching me something that will always stay with me. Until a couple of years ago, I didn't know that book existed. And after I found it, it sat on a shelf in my library gathering dust. So I'd like to think that the book has gone on to serve a greater purpose - and that by sharing with Francis and those other kids something I needed - that memory - I gave them something even more special. How interesting. Through the sharing, I haven't diminished my memories at all. If anything, I possess them more fully.



Nensi (Isn't the phonetic spelling of my name here just precious?)