Are there really normal tasks that you do fairly regularly that consistently make you think of a person or a place in time? When I start cutting things I instantly think of two things.
The summer before 6th grade I was going to day camp at my dance studio. Along with doing normal dance lessons we did some costuming and choreographing. Our costumes were for cardboard versions of ourselves. I was sitting in the middle of the dance studio floor working on my costume. I decided my cardboard person needed smaller feet (even at 11, I had big feet...). So I got to work on sizing down my giant cardboard feet. Next thing I knew, I had sliced my leg with the sewing scissors I was cutting with. It was a fairly deep cut and probably about 3 inches long. Probably should have had stitches. But, in true dance form, I just slapped a couple bandaids on it. I went carpet shopping with my mom that afternoon. She didn't realize how bad it was until days later.
I was reminded of this the other day when I was sitting in my living room floor cutting fabric to make my friend's baby shower bunting. I realized maybe cutting in the floor was a bad idea and a lesson I should have learned years ago. I kept working in the floor. Good news, I didn't cut my leg this time.
The other thing I think of is really my favorite. It's one of the most vivid memories of my childhood. I don't remember much about my early years. But I remember going to Sunday school. Our Sunday school teacher was the best. She was a tiny little older lady named Corliss. She was so sweet. There were usually just a couple of us in Sunday School. Me and a boy named Justin. We always had a lesson and there was usually some sort of craft project to go with the lesson. Corliss taught us to cut. Obviously I already knew how to cut in first grade. But, Corliss taught us to cut the right way. If you're cutting multiple things out of one sheet of paper or something small out of a big piece, you cut roughly around whatever you're cutting out. Then you do the actual cutting. Twenty-three years later, I still cut the same way. When I see people not cutting that way, I want to tell them they're doing it wrong. The funny thing is, my sisters all had Corliss as a Sunday school teacher too and we all still cut that way.
For the past two days I've been working on a cutting project at work. As a school counselor sometimes I end up doing funny projects. I'm working on an Academic Wall of Honor. That boils down to lots of cutting. And thinking of Corliss. She passed away a few years ago. She was truly one of the sweetest people I've ever known. She made all of us feel so special, even after we were too old for her class. I remember getting birthday cards from her until she passed away. We received small gifts from her at our confirmations. And she came to our graduation parties, even though we no longer attended that church.
Anyone else have a certain way to cut things out? Or a special person that you associate with a certain activity?
No comments:
Post a Comment