When my kids were little, they used to take the bus to both the elementary & middle schools with a group of kids from our neighborhood. One of the girls was the same age as my daughter and was a character from as far back as I knew her. She often arrived at the bus stop at 8 am with her lips stained orange from the soda she was drinking and she would alternate between arguing with her brother and dancing. When they reached high school age, she turned her passion for dance into her school choice as well and began attending a county vo-tec high school where she spends much of her day dancing. She’s even going to college next year as a dance major; her feet never stop moving. Thinking of her in this way, I was a little surprised a few months ago when she reached out to ask if I could help her learn to weld. For an independent study, she was encouraged to learn a different art form and she wanted that to be welding. We’ve had a lot of fun over the past month working on the basics and creating projects with her grandfather’s old tools. A few years ago, I had made a bunch of glass flowers using old railroad spikes as stems. As much as I enjoyed making them, I had gotten out of the routine but working with Molly inspired me to make another. I’m donating this one to Metuchen School’s PT Council for their annual fundraiser so I used the school colors for the flower and added some gears to the bottom as a nod to other typical modes of transportation in the borough. Thanks, Molly, it’s been a pleasure working with you and I can’t wait to see what you do next— a dancing welder, who would have thought?