(This is a reprint of the speech that was shared by Elizabeth Siegenthaler, Director of the Green Hills Child Center, that she presented during the Child Center graduation ceremony on Friday, June 9, in Foundation Hall at Green Hills Community. For more than 30 years, Green Hills has offered child care to staff and the public and was the first nursing home in the state of Ohio to offer child care.)
Good
morning.
Before we
begin, I need you all to consider the importance of your hands.
 |
| Elizabeth Siegenthaler Director of Child Center |
According
to Aristotle, the hand is the “tool of tools.” One of the very first things
that takes place in meeting someone is to simply wave “Hello” or extend a firm
handshake.
Hands give
blessing while grasping another’s before a meal, or while folded before
bedtime.
Often
expressive, hands can offer an approving thumbs up, say that we’re #1, to rock
on, to hang 10, or to peace out.
A hand is
so important that a fortune teller not only uses it to track your past, but
also to chart your future. In general, the significance of your hands is
strength, power, and protection. However, it can just as easily mean
generosity, hospitality, and stability.
Each day of
our lives is filled with incidents that require our hands to be skillfully and
silently involved, often to the point that we are nearly oblivious to how much
we, and even others, rely on them.
Think back
to the day your child was born. No bigger than a minute, your brand new baby
fit in the palm of your hand—and from that point forward, relied on your hands to simply survive each day.
Equipped
with the tools necessary, your hands
…
swaddled
Adelia…
rocked Elin
to sleep…
changed
Ellie’s diaper…
and fed
Mason.
Your hands …
bathed
Molly…
dressed
Brayden…
tickled Braiyelyn…
fixed
Olivia’s hair…
and zipped
Ryder’s jacket.
Your hands also carried your sons and
daughters into our Child Center.
Here, their hands learned the techniques
necessary to …
crawl …
feed
themselves …
share toys
with friends …
do motions
to songs …
paint and
color …
wipe their
noses …
write their
names …
tie their
shoes.
These
children even learned that some hands hurt, but that there will always be hands
to fix boo-boos and wipe away tears.
There … will
always … be hands.
Thich Nhat
Hanh, a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist said, “if you look
deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all
generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment ...”
As your
children rely on the help of your hands, you once depended on your parents’
hands to do the same for you. They once depended on their parents’ hands to do
likewise. The hands of those who came before …
swaddled…
rocked…
changed…
fed…
bathed…
dressed…
tickled…
fixed hair…
and zipped
jackets for … you.
As your
child leaves here today with his or her diploma in hand, I, along with all of
the Child Center staff, will offer up a congratulatory round of applause, and
keep our fingers crossed that our
hands have assisted each one of you in preparing these graduates for the first
day of school.
When that
day in late August or early September comes, your children are relying on your
hands for one more thing, and that is … to let go.
As you wait
anxiously for the bus, or as you walk up to the entrance of the school, let go
of your son’s and daughter’s hands. Like you once did for your parents on your
first day, chances are good that your child will give you a reassuring thumb’s
up.
While you
wave “goodbye,” your child, armed with the “tool of tools,” will turn and wave
“Hello” to his or her kindergarten teacher, and an entire classroom of new
friends.
Congratulations
to Green Hills Child Center’s Class of 2017!
 |
In
back from left: Elin Leichty, Molly Titlow, Ellie Louth, Adelia Leonard, and
Olivia Keller.
From
front from left: Mason Wallace, Braiyelyn Defibaugh, Brayden Clary, and Ryder
Terry.
|
