Comments and Observations

All of the stories about object were amazing! Honestly, I didn’t know before this project how one object could inspire someone to write a masterpiece. It was really eye opening. I also really enjoyed how there were no limits, or rubrics on how we had to write. That really opened up the door for creativity and I know in my group, we used it to the full effect. Katie was really creative with her story and made it travel through time, eventually finding the owner. That inspired me about a story I could write about in my own family.

Katie G.

We are all made of objects.

Hey Katie! This piece was AMAZING! Really interesting concept on how an object so little can make huge effects. Also, I loved the time line and historical setting that you wrote this in. My favorite part was the beginning, and how it increased in meaning as the story went along. Great job!
Katie! Love the last line, "savoring, enjoying the beautiful life I've been given,..." really hit home for me! I really wish that I was a night owl, and I'm trying to work on it. I am definitely a social butterfly, maybe we've both been told to be quiet in class a few times before? :)

Samantha H.
I could relate to Sam and her story with her grandfather because my grandfather and I love to play games together! I also feel loved when I am with him, and that came across in the post. I never thought of using a JENGA piece to even represent that bond.
Sam! I love cats, but I will never, ever try and dress up my cat! I don't think I would survive the experience! I would love to know how to make those dumplings, comfort foods are my favorite! Loved getting to meet you!
Your descriptiveness really made me feel like I was with you in the moment! I also enjoyed how you added your grandfather's narrative into the story, making it really personal. I can relate to having mom attack you with bug spray, which happens all too often. :) Great story, thanks Sam!

Amanda L.
I found a lot in common with Amanda's story! Too many times have I lost a book I was working on, wanted to read, or even return it to the library!
Awesome writing Amanda! I definitley felt as if I was there, and I might even give this book a try! I love how you have a shelf of special books, I do too! I'm also so glad you found your book, and this story kind of remined me of Katie's-there was also a lost object. Great work!
Joshua M.

Prayers and Rocks

The Prayer Rock

            My grandmother has a prayer rock. It is a small, smooth stone oddly shaped like a circle, and has the word “pray” painted onto the surface in gold. I remember when I first found this rock, I knew that it was special, but I didn’t know why. It wasn’t out in the open, but it also wasn’t hidden either in the back of a drawer; not out of sight, out of mind.

            I asked my grandmother what it was. She said that a prayer rock was used in so many different ways, and that “she couldn’t possibly try and explain them all to a nine year old”. Instead, she told me why and how she came to possess her prayer rock.

            She had gotten it from church one day, based on a lesson that was given. She took it home and placed it on her nightstand, right underneath a picture of her and her best friend, in New York probably doing things that parents don’t know but only teenage girls do, taking those secrets with them to the grave. Every time she would look at it, she would be reminded to pray. She didn’t even have to hold it while praying, which is what some people do. She would just look and pray.

            After she had explained this to me, I had some thoughts. I thought, “What is so special about this prayer rock? It’s literally a rock that I could just replace with one from the garden.” It wasn’t until years later that I fully grasped what was so special about this rock.

            My grandmother, Mary Lou, grew up knowing and worshiping God. To this day, I still don’t understand how one person can have so much faith. I wish that I could have this rock tell me what she prayed about, the answers that she received, but for now, I’ll just try and guess.

            Maybe one time, she prayed about divorcing her husband. Knowing that she would lose someone she had loved at one point, with children that hadn’t even reached adulthood yet. Did she pray, with tears flowing, saying, “Why did this have to happen”? “Shouldn’t all marriages be perfect and work out”?

            Another time, she could have prayed about marrying my grandfather, knowing that at the time he wasn’t religious, but would be eventually. Did she pray about the time her mother said, “Midge, Midge, he’s going to make a great member of the church”, after only knowing him during the time of an insurance sales pitch in their front living room? Or maybe, did she give a prayer of thanks for the wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather he became?

            When she became pregnant with my father, did she offer prayers of worry? Not knowing how this baby would turn out in a “hers, mine, ours” family of 7 children? Did both my grandmother and grandfather kneel down to make sure this baby would be born healthy, kind, and wise?

            When sorrow came knocking at her doorstep, did she turn to pray, willing to do almost anything to relieve the poison of sadness that was running through her veins? Maybe prayers of forgiveness and grace were said among wails and better memories of the past.

            Today, I would give almost anything to hear her stories of what she said when she was around her prayer rock. I’ve heard most of the stories from her, but not the raw stories of when she turned to the only source of comfort not offered by anything on this planet. I hope that one day, I may just get a prayer rock, and become a woman of faith, just like her.

Who I am

                                                I am…

I am…

the daughter of two hard workers who have given me everything and continue to do so everyday
granddaughter to grandparents who sacrifice anything and everything for their family
an anomaly, getting two great friends as siblings instantly and a plus one six years later
a proud owner of a white tonkinese cat who is the craziest, sweetest,  funniest animal alive and who is only scared of its shadow

I am…

a western town, splitting childhood memories drinking root beer floats and   picking sunflowers 
the ocean where I learned to bogey-board and finally conquer the big waves in the ocean, resulting in scraping off sand everywhere on my body
gray skies and orange, crisp leaves that fall in autumn, the “year’s last loveliest smile” (w.b.)

I am…

a worrier, but will always find that everything is goin
g to be ok in the end
a lover of cats, aspiring to own a Scottish fold kitten and live out my days as a crazy cat lady with 100 cats
a homebody with a sickness that unexplainably is cured only by travel and going to distant countries such as France and Germany
a shoulder to cry on, who might not cry with you but will be there in every step of the way

I am…

rain boots that are ready to hop, skip, and jump into rain puddles or strut when needs be
someone who spends too much money and loves to use it on others even when the bank is broke and there is no money to be spent
champagne taste but lemonade pockets
split pea soup in the winter along with anything else my mom can throw in a crockpot

I am…

 “Wherever you are, be all there.”- Jim Elliot
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”- Henry David Thoreau
“The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or small as you want.”- F. Scott Fitzgerald