A fine moment in creativity.

It made me so happy to watch the gentleman browse my work, chuckling with every glance. He picked up my pillow to appreciate the hand stitching in multiple languages and swiftly tucked it under his arm when a friend walked over to say hello. He held the pillow firmly under his arm with his elbow bent as they continued their conversation. When his friend walked away, he pointed out to his daughter the different trilingual kids clothes that were folded neatly on the table. He bought the pillow with a grin and told me that he enjoyed my set up and wanted to buy some baby clothes, but he didn't know anyone with babies young enough. I quietly laughed and smiled as I squeezed the dark blue pillow into the slightly under sized plastic bag. I thanked him as he walked away.

Nenin Marianas - Trilingual Onesies

I speak only English. I am a Chamolinaole who was raised on Saipan. Chamolinaole is my made up word for Chamolinian Haole, which really means that I'm Chamorro, Carolinian (or Refaluwasch), and Irish American. I'm not tracing my roots back over generations and generations - my mother is half Chamorro, half Refaluwasch and my father was Irish American. Despite my multiculturalism and the fact that I heard several languages spoken every day of my life, I speak only English. And while I don't think I will ever learn to speak my other languages, I would like to be able to understand them more than I do now and I hope that my children will connect with their cultures through language.

These are the first of what I hope to be many Nenin Marianas trilingual pieces. I designed and hand painted each of these onesies with the hope that they would bring off-island families a little closer to home or bring kids at home in our islands a little closer to their culture.

They are available in my etsy shop.