A Thousand Cranes October 22, 2009

'A Thousand Cranes' tells the story of Sadako Saski who was 2 years old when the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. She was later diagnosed with Leukemia. She learned the tradition of folding origami miniatures: If a sick person folds a thousand cranes, the Gods will grant her a wish and make her healthy. She happily begins folding hundreds of colorful paper cranes. After succumbing to her illness, Sadako's friends and classmates folded 356 cranes to make a thousand. In 1958, a monument to Sadako and all the children killed by the atom bomb was unveiled in Hiroshima Peace Park with these words engraved on the base: "This is our cry, this is our prayer, peace in the world."