Puzzles are a wonderful way to pass the time, conversations happen easier around a puzzle then they do in front of the tv, and you can take your time or speed through it, the pace is up to you.
My grandmother is in the midst of some very challenging memory issues, for her, doing puzzles is a big part of her daily routine. Once they've been completed my mom pulls them apart and puts them back in the box, she pulls out a new puzzle. They rotate between the same dozen puzzles because grandma can't remember that she's already done that puzzle. But for her it's just about the process and the progress of placing a piece that fits, to feel success in her day that she can experience again and again I think in some ways, it may help with some really difficult things and all the ways that things are not fitting in her life right now. The puzzle represents something simple and predictable and safe for grandma.
I grew up doing puzzles, at grandma's house or in my own home, the thrill of searching desperately for that one piece and finding it finally. The order of how the edges get done first, then the big colorful "interesting" pieces and then the rest of the "supporting pieces " find their places and fill up the rest of the picture.
For me, when a puzzle is done, I glue it together, to keep all the pieces together, and tack it up on a wall as the reminder of the work that went into putting it together. A beautiful puzzle is Art, worthy of display!!!
I bought a lovely puzzle from the thrift store, the box had been opened and perhaps it had even been put together and pulled apart before going back into that box.
This particular puzzle 🧩 was assembled by me and a dozen others, many of the girls helped, some who have gone home already. We put it away and pulled it back out for months, I got used to seeing the progress, slowly but surely the picture became clearer, until yesterday when every piece in that box had found its place.
But there was just one small issue. There is one piece missing.
It's on the side, in a spot that doesn't have a bunch of color, but it's still noticeable. I searched under the bed, under the couch, all the places we had assembled it but I found no piece.
I thought about it for a bit and then, I glued that puzzle anyway.
There are so many ways, so many times when life can be a lesson and the things we walk through can be a teaching opportunity. We search for them and hope for them and sometimes they just present themselves when we are just busy living.
I put it up on the wall in the relief room just across from the door, the first thing you see when you enter the room.
And when they ask about that missing piece I hope it will start conversations about how it's ok to not have it ALL together, to not be "complete" that beauty and be found and pride in achievement can be had, even if that puzzle displayed on the wall is only representing 999 of its 1000 pieces .
I'm not sure if it was missing a piece from the day I found it at the thrift store, or if it was lost in one of the many times we moved it over the months but I think I actually like it better with a missing piece, I hope it will be a beautiful reminder to myself and all the girls that though we strive for "complete and whole" that falling short of that is not always a failure.
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