She held it firmly in her beak, undaunted in her endeavors. The gusty winds swirling everything not nailed down had little effect on her determination to get to the safe spot she had picked out for the family’s nest.
I witnessed the momma-to-be robin perching on our backyard fence for a moment before darting onto a nearby evergreen branch with a single blade of grass still tightly in her mouth.
What amazing perseverance for such a little bit of reward?! How many more trips would it take to have a finished product? Why not just wait until another day when less effort would be required?
As my thinking defaulted into lazy human mode, memories of an earlier time when my determination paid off in dividends of joy came to mind. It was late 1950-something and I had somehow been chosen to perform in our 3rd grade class Maypole Dance. Like this group of school children, we had woven our colorful streamers into their beautiful pattern during dress rehearsal with no problems.
That was before the wind arrived.
I was so excited to wear the pastel lavender dress and bonnet my mom had made for this special occasion. While some girls had store bought hats with flowers and beads, mine was definitely one-of-a-kind. Who knew a paper plate could become such a work of art?!
Mom had covered it with lavender fabric to match my dress and had extended streamers down each side. These were sashed snuggly under my chin to hold steady the bird’s nest atop. A mama bird seemed to be keeping the 3 blue plastic robin’s eggs inside all nice and cozy warm.
I loved my unique dance companion. Until the moment she appeared to take flight on the gusts of wind that started as we began to dance. Holding onto my hat with one hand and my assigned lavender streamer with the other while dipping under and stretching over oncoming dancers presented quite a challenge.
Perseverance paid off, though. The Maypole looked beautiful, my bird bonnet survived, and I had memories of a successful first life challenge to look back on the next time that something a bit difficult came up.
And I had a newspaper clipping with a joyfully smiling photo of me and my spectacularly unique May Day hat.
Somewhere…
Now, where did I last see that box of memorabilia??
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I’d love to support you in following a thread of memory from something you see today into childhood moments you had long forgotten.
JOYfully jotting,
Katie
Family PhotoStory Curator
Mini-Stories Writing Coach
Your Legacy of Memories Mentor
Capturing Mini-Moments That Matter…
Energizing & Connecting Families for Generations!