My Brother's Special Gift!

Good Friday Morning Everyone,

I have taken some time off from crafting and painting to take care of some health issues I've been having and still have some ahead of me, but I took the time to make a special gift for my "only" brother's 55th birthday January 13th.

At, almost 5 years of age, I was blessed with my only brother...Jacob Richard Minchew...or as our Daddy called him "The Pattern" because he was One of a Kind....or as my sisters and I called him, Dickie. Even though our Dad was a lawyer, he was also a consummate outdoors man! He had been raised on a rural family farm in south Georgia, so, he instilled in each of us a love of the outdoors, and none of us took to that more than Dickie. By the time he was a young man, his knowledge of hunting, tracking, plants, woods was just amazing! Dickie could tell you almost anything you needed to know about the outdoors and this knowledge only grew into his adult life even more.

Also, like our Daddy, he has never liked the attention drawn to himself with birthday parties or gifts, but, when they were given, it was always appreciated in his own way. With his 55th birthday approaching, or as Dickie said at Christmas..."the double nickel"....I knew I wanted to make him something special but had know idea, until walking my dog just a few days after Christmas. I saw this stick laying in the edge of the woods and just stopped and look at it but didn't pick it up, until later that afternoon when Odawg and I passed by it again, and then I knew! I would make him my version of a Indian Spirit Stick and since it would be all about our family, I call it The Minchew Spirit Stick....lol!

I brought it back home and started work right then. I whittled all the bark off the stick and then just let my emotions take over. I painted both ends of the stick a beautiful blue which was our fathers favorite color. One end is wrapped in brown and red leather representing the colors of the woods. On one piece of the brown leather is tied a turquoise pendant which I had and loved and since my sister Kathy and I love turquoise, that represent us. On the red leather is tied a owl feather from my sister Rebecca which represent wisdom, which Dickie has for nature. In the middle on the knot of the branch I made a spiral from clay and painted it green with a red dot in the middle representing our Mother who gave us life. Both sides of the know are painted with spiraling black lines representing the Satilla River which has made an important part in our families lives. There are also white dots which represent the lives of our ancestors that have gone before us. At the bottom right of the branch is painted yellow dots which represent Dickie and his wife and two daughters......with red lines drawn from the daughters with green leaves which represents the life that will come from them. And, finally, there is gold wire with amber and rose quartz beads for peace. I know that my brother will find some place special to place this and know of the love we all have for him:

This gift may not be the fanciest or the brightest, but to me, for my brother, it is perfect!

Blessings,
Deborah