Paper Cranes for a Mom with Cancer

This morning I read about the story of Melissa, a young mother of 3 with breast
cancer from Australia. To show support and encouragement, her cousin, Jasmine
recently started a project of making 1000 paper cranes.

See Melissa’s full story on the fb page: 1000 Paper Crane Project

All Jasmine asks is 1 pink paper crane with some words of support.

A lot of people have already sent their cranes of support to the family:

cranes by Adele

cranes by Georgina

I love these cranes by Aly


And here’s the beginning of my cranes. I’ll be making more and will be sending them tomorrow.

From a mother of 3 to another mother of 3, strength and hope to Melissa and her whole family!
And God bless you Jasmine for doing this for you cousin.

You can also send your Pink cranes to the family at this address:
The 1000 Paper Cranes Project
6 Battams Street
Stepney, South Australia 5069
Australia

1,000 Paper Cranes

 Recently, I learned from Reg that according to an ancient Japanese legend,
folding a thousand origami cranes (called Senbazuru) will grant you a wish by . . .
what else, a crane :) Interesting. People usually wish for long life, healing and peace.

Here’s what a thousand paper cranes look like when stringed together:

They’re usually popular wedding gifts or gifts to newborns in Japan wishing the
couple or baby prosperity and long life. I think the effort alone of folding all that
paper is really sweet :)

Brides are also known to fold a thousand cranes before their wedding. Reg? Cor? :) hehehe

from Ruffled

Here’s what a thousand cranes look like in a bowl. This is actually cuter :)

photo from here

Here’s what 1,000 paper cranes look like on a shirt :) hehehehe

  

This is by our friend, AJ Dimarucot. Pretty cool huh? This shirt is available on the
Design by Humans site for $19.

Here’s an interesting Japanese story I found out about the cranes.

10 years after the Hiroshima bombing in Japan, a 12 year old girl named Sadako
Sasaki found out that she had leukemia due to the radiation from atom bomb.

Believing that she could wish to be cured, she started folding paper cranes.
While folding the cranes in the hospital, she started running out of paper and
was folding anything she could get her hands on (medicine wrapping, gift wrappers, etc).

A version of the story says that she only got to 664 and that her friends finished
the 1,000 cranes for her and buried them with her. Another story says that she
finished the thousand and continued to fold more.

She never got better and died in October 25, 1955.

They built this statue of her holding a paper crane in 1958.

The plaque at the bottom of the statue reads:
"This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth."

It is also a memorial for all the children who died from the effects of the atomic bomb.

To this day, children offer paper cranes to her Peace memorial, also called the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima

 

 

Statue of Sadako Sasaki in Seattle Peace Park, near the University of WA
 
more info on Sadako

Anyway, I think I’m going to take on the task of folding a thousand cranes :) I’m already
folding them as decorations for Mati’s birthday anyway, so why not a thousand right? :D

5 months to go. hehehe.

My wish and my prayers, based on the things happening around the world, PEACE.

I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world  —– Sadako Sasaki, age 12

Addicted to Paper Cranes

Last Christmas, I got this book:

It came with around a hundred colored papers.

Although the book has several origami birds that I can make, I only really want to make paper cranes. hehehe

I started obsessing over paper cranes ever since I saw them on Pinterest:

Yesterday I made a couple of birds and stuck them on the ceiling of my kids’ playroom.

They loved it :)

Then, because making paper cranes is addictive and because I have spare
cartolina at home, I made a bigger crane :)

hehehe.

Anyway, my plan is to make paper crane mobiles to decorate our hallway
for Mati’s birthday in  . . . . . JULY!!! hahaha

I’ve been recycling the hall decorations ever
since Mati turned 1 so it’s about time I make new ones ;)

Why do I even go through so much effort? 

‘Cause the look on their faces when they see the decorations as they come out of their room in the morning is just priceless :)

Anyway, now I can’t wait to see their faces when they see a hundred paper cranes in the hallway! :D

5 months to go . . .