3 little birds

3 little birds is that great Bob Marley song that always makes me feel held and rocked..

"Don't worry about a thing

Coz every little thing is gonna be aright"

when i hear it i see his beaming face and those dreads flying and i think about his shininess and how when someone allows themself to believe they will be alright....

no matter what comes

Now that song has another significance for me - my daughters and i went to Playcentre - a parent lead organisation for early childhood learning in NZ which honours parents as first teachers and children as creative geniuses!

There i met, and admired a woman called Leigh. She was smart and funny and as a Department of Conservation worker, passionate about the environment. She taught the kids so many things, organised trips to island sanctuaries, joined in whole heartedly and with imagination into the games and fantasies of the children. Did i mention i admired her???

Well Leigh's youngest son, Rory has a brain tumor.

He is recovering, just had his last round of chemo and is still in hospital.

He is learning to walk again (the surgery damaged some of the parts that make his movement).

He is weak and tired.

And Leigh writes a blog about their journey

http://www.rorygardiner.co.nz/

(it is heart rending and inspiring and filled with love)

and in one of her early posts Leigh talked about her and the boys (she has two sons) singing Bob's 3 little birds in the car.... i had such a strong picture of them singing strong and being held by the words....

Last week i was asked to make some minature peices for an exhibition (i usually make big) so i bought a song book of Maori songs from a second hand shop, tore out the lines about a warrior coming home from a war and drew Leigh 3 little birds...

When someone goes through something as unimaginable as watching your child endure cancer and the equally hideous treatment for cancer it is impossible to know how to help when you aren't intimately involved...

so i have to beleive that creating and holding them up with energy and love is enough...