When I was ten, my parents divorced. I coped with repetition. I collected state quarters.
Why state quarters? I loved the consistency. Name at the top, year at the bottom, and the pictures in the center I’d memorized: California, Delaware, Maine, engraved silver trees and patriotic birds and olive branches.
I dug through couches and coats, feeling their ridges on my fingers, always trying to recreate a full set of fifty. I always could.
No matter his or her house, no matter the struggle, I found each one and I kept them together, starting over the next day.
Why couldn’t they?
Love this metaphor
‘coped with repetition’, ‘engraved with olive branches’…very nice, all around
A rock-solid moral encapsulated in this tiny tale. A winner!
Very, very good. Liked it a lot!
I particularly like the choice of coin collection as the displacement activity, as the mint and ‘stamping’ replicated images (repetitions) in the form of children is a well-worn metaphor, and this both uses it and gives it a new edge.
Patriotic birds, beautiful phrase.
Very nice, all the way through, and with a perfect ending.
Love the story….