In slightly more than 16 months, Ruth and Robert folded 1000 cranes, for reasons that are described in Ruth's essay, "A Thousand Cranes Carry Healing on Their Wings," found in her book, HEART LESSONS FOR THE JOURNEY HOME: Essays to Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire. The essay was originally published in the February 2003 issue of Spirit Seeker Magazine. (See essay.)

Here (top photo) Ruth is shown with all 1000 cranes on the evening of January 20, 2003, when the final two were folded. She and Robert began the process together in August 2001, folding two each day. Each crane was initialed, numbered, and dated under its left wing. So far, around 800 of the cranes have been given away.

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Middle photo: Ruth holds crane #1 (white) in her left hand, and crane #1000 (pink) in her right hand.

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Bottom photo: The five smallest cranes fit easily on the palm of a hand. Ruth points to the littlest one, measuring barely a half inch across from wing tip to wing tip.

Click here for more about the cranes..

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