When I handed my grandpa this gift, he didn’t say anything for a long time. He just looked at it, running his fingers over the coins, as if he were traveling back through time. The nickel – the year he was born. The quarter – the year he married Grandma. The pennies – the years his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren came into the world. Every little detail held a piece of his life: tiny tools because he could fix anything, a little fisherman figure because he could sit by the water for hours, and even a small chessboard piece, because he taught me how to play, always giving me a second chance, even when I was hopelessly losing.
“You even remembered that,” he said, smiling as he touched the chess piece. I hadn’t realized it at first, but this wasn’t just a gift. It was a story, his story, told through my hands. Funny thing is, I never really thought of myself as a particularly creative person. I’ve been making pieces like this for a while, but this project was different. I used to sell my work through friends and word of mouth, but recently, I set up a shop on Tedooo app. Right away, I found people who got what I was trying to do. They shared ideas, gave me advice on materials, and even helped me track down the perfect details to bring this piece to life. Because of that, I was able to make this exactly the way I pictured it. And seeing the way my grandpa held it, the way he traced each coin like he was reliving the best moments of his life, I knew I had done something right.
