A Thousand Cranes and Fuzzy Red Socks

  
In Japan the crane is a symbol of longevity and good luck because a crane "lives" for one thousand years.  When a thousand origami paper cranes are folded and strung onto pieces of string it becomes a work of art that brings a long life or recovery from illness or injury.  I had never seen such a creation until I opened a foreign stamped box that was sitting on my front doorstep.  As I opened the box the intricacies of the paper, the folds, and the sheer number of individual cranes were unbelievable.  As I read the kind notes inside, the words were blurred because of my tears, such love, such sacrifice, such handiwork, such beauty sent across the vast ocean to me.   My dear friends that I met in China folded each crane, one thousand of them, strung them together and sent them to me with hopes of healing.

Fuzzy red gripper socks, are just that, fuzzy red gripper socks.  They keep your toes warm on cold nights or chilly mornings.   I have a pair in my dresser drawer, not even sure where I got them.  I wore them, at Sammy's request, in the Mayo Clinic hospital as I prepared for brain radiation.  I didn't think much else about my red socks until I got a text from my sister asking me to check my Facebook account.

Now, I must explain something.  I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, even with two brain tumors, until it comes to Facebook.  I can't figure out how it works!  I try to find something, and a half an hour later, I still can't find what I am looking for but I saw what all of my friends "liked" instead.  I am a Facebook dropout and rarely go on it.  My sister knowing this, prompted me to check my Facebook account.  I found pictures of my family and my friends from around the world wearing red socks with messages of love, hope and encouragement.   Fuzzy red gripper socks had taken on the characteristics of one thousand cranes.

Thank you. Thank you for your messages of love, your notes, your emails, your meals, your pictures, your texts, your gifts and mostly, thank you for your faith and prayers.  I am sorry I do not respond to all of you individually.  However, please know I appreciate it and I am so grateful.  The path I am on is much more difficult than even I thought it would be, the physical pain, the emotional fear, and the spiritual stretching isn't easy; but the path is lined with one thousand cranes all wearing red socks cheering me and my little family on.  I realize all of us have our treacherous hills to climb, some public and some private, and I don't know all your struggles.  Please know, I am wearing my red gripper socks for you too.


This is the 1000 paper cranes hanging in my house.

Detail of the origami cranes.

  

The red gripper sock idea was started by one of my favorite cousins Shari Thornburg.  Thank you Shari, I love you!