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Coming Full Circle

gratitude and the power of redeeming the past

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Holly MathNerd
Nov 23, 2023
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This is a LEGO re-creation of the Nintendo game system.

There are quite a few cool pictures, from several angles, of a LEGO set at the end of this post, so some email clients may not handle it well. You can also read it at the Substack website.

This personal story/essay/reflection is a creative writing post (#24) from my occasional series for paid subscribers, who can also leave comments on most posts. As always, email hollymathnerd at gmail dot com if you would like a paid subscription but can’t afford one.


Context: it’s Thanksgiving week, and two experiences have given me powerful reminders of the past—one in a bad way, one in a good way. Both have made me reflect on gratitude.


Can you translate this:

“Juh-bob! Juh-bob! Juh-bob!”

I’ll give you a hint: it’s not a foreign language.

And it’s not praying in tongues.

Give up?

You’ll never get it, so I’ll tell you.

That’s the sound of a little kid who can’t hear, and therefore talks funny, shouting, “Jump up! Jump up! Jump up!”

The kind of thing a little kid who’s trying to win Super Mario Brothers might shout, as if it would help her dodge a fireball.

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