Balloons

Don't you love balloons? They always have the sense of celebration and excitement with their colors and dancing in the breeze. As you drive down the road, you can tell where someone is having a party or wedding reception by the fluttering balloons.

One of my earliest memories is of our boxer dog popping balloons. Well, he would bump it up in the air with his nose until it finally hit the floor, and then he would hit it with his paw, popping it. I can remember getting upset, as a three year old, crying that he took my balloon away from me and popped it.

Another memory of a balloon was when my daughter, Grace, let go of her helium balloon. She cried, of course, as she watched it go up and up and up into the sky. Then she said, "I hope God likes playing with my balloon."

When I taught school, one of the ways we would celebrate the 100th day of school was by blowing up 100 balloons. I taught many a kid to blow and tie a balloon in those years. We would take them to the gym, play a few games with them, and then put the rest in the middle and stomp on them. What a thunderous racket it made in the echo-y gym. They loved it.

Then there were the long evenings, getting the gym decorated for the graduation receptions. We sometimes had balloon bouquets, bunches of them in the basketball hoops, or at each table...but the most "fun" was making an arch. It took an assembly line of helpers: filling them with the rented helium tank, tying and keeping them from escaping to the ceiling, passing the correct color to the one placing them on the fishing line, and finally, securing it at the ends...without too many popping. Hat's Off to anyone who does that for a living!

The new foil balloons keep their helium so much longer. Also once they've finally lost their "bounce", they can be saved as momentos. I have some packed away in my keepsake box that were given to me for Valentine's Day or a Get Well greeting.

Yes...balloons bring back lots of memories.

6 comments:

Joanne Sher said...

Balloons are SO fun. My kids (especially Andrew) could play with them for HOURS - but they're both sensitive to noise, so the popping does NOT make them very happy ;) Enjoyed this very much!

LauraLee Shaw said...

I do love balloons. One of my favorite worship teaching moments with kids is to give each of them a helium balloon. Have all the kids write their prayer request on it or something they are worried about. Then we pray as a group, and on the "Amen," all of us let go of our balloons. (Well, most anyway.) It gives the kids a visual picture of letting go of their requests to God instead of holding onto them and worrying. I guess sometimes we even cry when we let our requests out, just like some of the little kids cry when their balloons are released.

Thanks for this post. Great memories.

Yvonne Blake said...

Ahhh..what a great object lesson! I love it, Laura.

Minot-Sleeper Library said...

I found you!

Loved the balloon stories. I'll have to pass the 100th day of school idea on to Bon.

I use balloons at the library from time to time. Whenever the kids see them they know that something fun is going to happen!

Laury said...

We always had fun rubbing them against our heads and sticking them to the walls. And I remember hitting them back and forth to keep them in the air. If it touched the ground, you were OUT! Thanks for the good rubbery memories today, Vonnie dear!

Yvonne Blake said...

Oh yes, the static fun!
I forgot about water balloons!..not only the little ones that are fun to have a battle with, but the big, floppy ones that you can play Keep Away with...lots of wet, summery fun!

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