When my brother Harvey and I were children, we spent a lot of time at
our Grandma Hede. On days when our Aunt Simone was there
When she came to visit, it was something special because she had a long journey.
Once she told us to look for smile stones
Because they have a certain power that can be used for good
But there are evil goblins who have the power of the smile stones
They were brown clay coins inscribed with
different faces. They smiled, had long
Line noses or small dot noses, round eyes or slit eyes.
Simone had created them specifically while pottery-making. The triumph of discovery
was big and I still have one of the smile stones today.
When I look at him, I have an impulse that perhaps some share,
namely to smile, only to then ask myself: Is that really
racist? But maybe it is just the opposite, maybe it is evidence of
Tolerance and respect for other cultures and every person.
Why shouldn’t the diversity of ethnicities and faces be
various Schmunzelstein pendants are expressed?
In diversity, not only the power of the smile stones unfolds, but
also those of our society.
