Knots On A Counting Rope

  Carter's first grade class celebrated Thanksgiving today at school.  Instead of just making the traditional handprint turkey, the class celebrated in a special way.  They made "Stone Soup" together by recreating the recipe from the book Stone Soup.  Each child brought something in to help with the meal. Then, they got to enjoy eating it after it cooked all day. 

But the real treat to me today was the class story time.

  Mrs. Posey had asked Carter and his Pop, my Daddy, to read a story to the class.  She wanted them to read the story, Knots on a Counting Rope.

The story is written as a conversation between a young Native American boy and his grandfather.  The boy is asking his grandfather to tell him the stories from his birth and childhood.  The boy keeps interrupting with parts of the story, because the boy already knows the stories by heart.

 Each time the story is told, the grandfather ties a knot in the counting rope.  The story goes, that when the rope is full, that he won't tell the stories anymore.  The story hints at the reality of human mortality.

When I saw the way Carter looked up at him, I had to swallow hard at this part of the story.  I'm glad Carter's grandfather has a long rope.