There’s a tradition from the Polish side of my family that, on their first birthday, children are presented with four objects to see what they’ll reach for: a Bible, a piece of food, some money, and a pen. What do you suppose Lucy chose?
Here’s video of the event, so you can see for yourself. It’s a 5.1 MB download and runs 1'45".
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For the historical record, here’s an extract from a letter my Mom wrote to my “Grandma Borzykowski”:/news/2006/happy-birthday-grandma-martha/ after my own first birthday, back in 1967:
bq. I gave him an apple instead of bread because I knew he’d eat the bread first thing. As it happened he touched the apple first anyway and then with his right hand on the Bible he touched the money and the pen.
I’d say the Bible-and-pen thing has played out nicely, but what’s with the money? (And is this penchant for the apple an early sign that I’d be a Mac user?)
Oh – I missed the birthday! I thought it was today, You are just gorgeous, Lucy! Looks like she’ll be a Mac user, too. Nice piano in the background, there.
Yeah, Kriss — Lucy loves to tickle those ivories that y’all so graciously left behind here in Chicago for us. She can’t quite see them, but she reaches up over her head and plunks them up and down the scale….
Wow – they do a very similar thing in Korea! Can’t remember all the elements, but I will look them up!
So what do all the elements mean? Future profession? Bent? Does this mean she’ll be a foodie? =)
A little bit more elaborate of a celebration:
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/tol/tol.cfm?xURL=table
Thanks for the comparative culture, Young. Very interesting. Like the Korean ceremony, this version is supposed to predict the baby’s future profession or skills.