First off, I want to give a great big THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to everyone who participated in our little contest!  Win or no, I think it’s amazing how wonderful it is that everyone was able to connect with someone else for such a wonderful experience.  Myla said as we were looking through the over 200 entries: “I’m so very PROUD of those people!”  And I am, too.

I sent each entrant a personal message of thanks, and our own doodle of the contest head, just for them.  Myla & I spent a long time sorting through the entries, and I have to tell you, she was SO excited at what everyone had done.  I mean, visibly excited and thrilled.  It took a lot of honing down to get her to narrow it down–she wanted to pick them all.  And since it was SO very difficult to choose, I decided to not only pick one winner…but THREE.  I pretty much let the 4-year old take the lead on choosing, and I respected each of her choices.  So, without further ado, here are the winners, in no particular order (since the prize is the same):

Now, when our kid doesn’t win, she gets upset.  (She was actually a little upset at first that she couldn’t win THIS contest.)  But I’ve taught her to say “I really really wanted to win, but I’m very happy for you.” 🙂

Telling a wonderful story was not factored into our decision, but in the spirit of stories, I will tell you some tales of the winning pieces.

• The girl and her robot were created by Christine Kenney and her 6-year old son Desmond.  Since the collaborations post, Christine had been meaning to try this with her son, and hadn’t found the time until the contest idea came up, and they enjoyed it a great deal.

• The next (very colorful) piece was created by Susan Garver and her 5-year old Eden.  Eden saw the woman as a unicorn with a flower friend.  Later, when adding the final touches, Susan remembered the loss of a family friend’s child, whose favorite color was “rainbow.”  She finished it with her in mind, and hopes to eventually give it to the family.

• And finally, Laurie Silverstein passed this drawing back & forth to her older daughter.  The story goes that when her daughter was around 4, she was happily singing “zip a dee doo dah” in a grocery store cart, and then suddenly burst into tears at the thought of being a mommy…It occurred to the little girl that her own future kids might starve because she “didn’t know where the stores are.”  Years later, the daughter got a shoulder tattoo that said “zip a dee doo dah,” to remind her, I suppose, that it will all be okay.

There were so many beautiful stories that weren’t told, and so many beautiful pieces that weren’t chosen, from ALL OVER THE WORLD.  Teachers sharing it with their classes, nurses collaborating with patients, families doing the project at a family get-together.  Friends adding to the piece from far away to combine a single piece.  I sincerely hope it was a fun and fair experience, win or no, for everyone involved.  The most amazing thing to come of the Collaborations post, for me, has been hearing about all the wonderful ways the post has inspired you all to do similar projects with your family & friends.  And that’s the best thing of all, in my book.

So thank you again to everyone who entered!  They were all so beautiful and we are all so very proud.  Thank you SO VERY MUCH!

And please, go check out all the beautiful entries on the Facebook page!