Wooden Midcentury Modern Mobile | Mark Leary Designs

Mobile: Rootsanwings

 On trust
“It’s an opportunity,” whispered sun, “to believe in miracles.”
Blue wasn’t convinced, but she zipped up her cocoon nonetheless. 

Thoughts while making

When I was in the 2nd grade, I got hit in the eye with an olive. Yes, an olive. What had started out as an innocent water gun fight quickly turned all stone fruit.

Without mentioning any names (Robbie Kraft you know who you are), the older kids in our neighborhood climbed up on a roof and started pelting us pipsqueaks with hard, unripe olives they’d picked from a front yard.

A week later, I was released from the hospital. In an effort to keep the internal bleeding to a minimum and avoid surgery, I’d been forced to lay prone, both eyes bandaged with gauze. This bought me a front-row ticket to such fun events for a 7-year-old boy as sponge baths from strangers and bedpans. I make fun of it now, but it was scary and confusing. I was just a kid.

Obvi, I didn’t want to skip a week of school, or soccer practice, or edible food. I definitely didn’t plan on missing Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving special (got totally busted for peeking). And I certainly didn’t deliberately choose to put myself at risk of losing my sight. 

But on the day I left, woozy from sitting up for the first time in 7 days, being rolled out in a wheelchair, my eyes unbandaged, I clearly remember seeing a line of unfamiliar faces with very familiar voices. People who had cared for me, cleaned me, fed me. Each smiling, none looking like I’d imagined, all filling me to overflowing with their love and kindness.

Life is going to throw olives. And they’ll likely be unexpected. Something we didn’t plan for. Sometimes they are going to hurt, maybe even leave you in the dark, scared, or confused. Right now could be one of those times. 

And that’s okay. Because we’re here for each other, like the olive tree that can thrive in the harshest environments, with deep roots, in unexpected ways, our hearts open, offering branches to support, rather than stones to wound. It’s a good time to trust, to believe, and to care.