Story-in-a-box

The day my grandfather passed away was one of the best days of my life. It started out as an ordinary Wednesday. My mother had taken me to my grandparents’ house for a visit. I was greeted as a guest of honor by my grandmother with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. As my mother and grandmother conversed, I had managed to find my way into my grandfather’s study where he was quietly sitting and reading the daily paper. Since I had never been in the study before, my grandfather immediately noticed how intrigued I was at all of the unusual items he kept on his shelves and desk. He picked up the first object and began his story as I gazed into it with amazement.

The first pieces he showed me were a bark canoe with a bird feather inside, an oddly painted clay plate, and three wild chestnuts. He told me a story of how long ago he had manage to get lost in the woods and was saved from a wolf by a Native American boy who lead my grandfather back to the cabin my great grandfather had built. From that day forward the two boys had become great friends and, like all great friends do, they began to share everything. My grandfather traded his pocket knife for the boat and some buttons for the chestnuts. On the last day the two would see each other, the Native American boy gave my grandfather a feather and told my grandfather that the boy’s name meant little bird.

Then my grandfather held up a statue of a Spanish house and a carved, marble name stamp. He said that these two items were given to him by the two loves of his life. He was given the house by a woman who he had met on a trip to Spain. He was walking along the beach when they met. They had spent a week together when it was time for his to return to the United States. On the day he left, she handed him this house and said that one day she would be in a house like this near the beach where they met waiting for him to return.

He told me several other stories that afternoon and before I knew it, it had come time for me to leave. My grandfather passed away that night and it had seemed as though I knew him more than ever. Its amazing how one can fit a lifetime of stories into a box.