One Thousand Paper Cranes: How a Family Tradition Took Flight
“무병장수 하세요 (Mubyung-jangsu haseyo) (Wish you a long and healthy life)”
For Mom
1954
At a young age, we begged our mother to take us on a roller coaster ride. She was clearly terrified, but she gave in. As our car climbed toward the peak, our Mom pulled us close and pressed us down beneath her arms, blocking our view. We were frustrated, confused, even. We were too young to name it then, but we felt it: a mother’s love.
For our Mom’s 70th birthday, we folded 1,000 paper cranes, gold and silver, as wishes for her continued good health and for more days filled with her laughter and love. Our earliest memories are filled with our creative Mom, cooking, crocheting, singing, playing the guitar, and folding paper cranes. She taught us the legend that folding one thousand cranes grants a wish or brings good fortune.
Everything our Mom did was to give us a better chance at a good life. Every kind act she hoped would find its way back to us. Every unblemished vegetable, every perfectly boiled egg, every marinated dish, every simmering seaweed soup, every fermented kim chi, EVERYTHING she cooked for us nightly after our numerous daily school activities was created to fortify our bodies and minds.
It was these memories we discussed as we folded each crane in our Mom’s honor.
At first, we tried counting our cranes by piling them up in small mounds, but the piles shifted and blended together. The Leo and Virgo sisters were especially stressed when we lost count—they needed to know exactly how far we had come and how far we had to go. Eventually, we started storing them in clear plastic bags, 50 cranes per bag, just to keep track. The Virgo sister initially refused to lift the tails and heads of her cranes, convinced there had to be a better way to fold a perfect crane. She spent her time perfecting and reengineering the folding instructions themselves.
In the end, we got there, with our imperfectly folded but perfectly loved cranes.
In Japanese, senbazuru (千羽鶴) means “a thousand cranes.” Traditionally, cranes are a symbol of peace, longevity, and hope. Today, people of all ages send cranes to the Children’s Peace Monument at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park as gestures of remembrance, solidarity, and hope for a more peaceful future. Many people send 1,000, but even a handful folded with care is welcome.
For Darlene
1974
For a dear friend’s 50th birthday, we filled a shadow box frame with 1,000 vibrantly colored cranes, a tribute as bold and beautiful as she is.
At this point, my sisters and I were folding our second set of 1,000 cranes. Who knew folding origami could make your fingers ache? As our fingers grew tired, we would sometimes tear the wings in the final fold. Only perfectly intact cranes made it into the shadow box frame. As our reject pile grew, my sister soothed us with music, starting with “Take These Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister.
That song led us to an ’80s soft rock playlist. When “Islands in the Stream” by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers began to play, my sister asked if I recognized the song. I said no. But when the chorus hit, much to my surprise, I found myself singing along. She insisted she did not know this version of this song… but another one, maybe Hip-Hop?
Puzzled, she called Darlene who has an uncanny music memory. She immediately identified Islands in the Stream, then surprised us both by naming the elusive track my sister had been trying to recall: “Ghetto Supastar,” a Hip-Hop hit that sampled the Dolly and Kenny classic.
It was an added bonus to our evening, another reason to love Dolly Parton, Pras, ODB, Mýa, Darlene, and each other, and a reminder of how music, like our cranes, connects us in unexpected ways.
For Ma Butler
1931
For our beloved Ma Butler, we folded 1,000 cranes… soft floral printed cranes between layers of blue and silver for a starry sky and green shades for grass… in honor of a life well lived.
We often picture her out in her yard in the fall, battling pine cones and needles with quiet determination. At nearly 90 years old, she would rake them into piles, load her wheelbarrow, and haul it to the edge of her property to add to her compost heap, always strong, always steady.
She is missed daily.
Folding Cranes
There are countless ways to learn how to fold a paper crane. Here are a few of our favorite guides and tutorials:
YouTube Instructions by Matcha Konomi | Step by Step Instructions by Spruce Crafts
We’ve also included affiliate links to the origami paper we used, mostly 3 x 3 and 4 x 4 inch squares:
Yasutomo Origami Gold Metallic Foil Sheets | Silver & Gold Double Sided Origami Paper for Art and Craft Crane | Double-Sided Origami Sheets Printed with 12 Different Cherry Blossom Patterns | Origami Paper, 1000 sheets, 2 3/4 inches square - Multi-Color
The shadow box frame we used was from Joann’s and is no longer available. The dimensions were 13.5 x 13.5 inches sauare and 4 inches deep. We especially liked the square frame in the middle that highlighted the year of our loved one. At two minutes per crane, with perseverance and some gentle compression, you can fit 1,000 cranes into this size shadow box frame, if you pace yourself over a few weeks.
What began as a gift for our Mom has become a family tradition, honoring the people who have shaped our lives with their strength, laughter, and grace.
We’d love to see your creative origami crane projects. Please share them in the comments below!
One crane at a time, we remember. One thousand at a time, we give thanks.
With full hearts and achy fingers,
Onjena Yo, Coach TJ & Rynaidrosa
#VillageValues #OurWorldOurHeart
