Just before Christmas, my sister left me a present. For some reason…I took a long time to open it up. It was a small box, rectangular, one you might put a necklace in. I hesitated to open it for quite awhile.
Then, just after the New Year, when the holiday festivities had come to an end, I sat down and opened the gift.
I was amazed. In this box were things my family had pulled from the ashes of our home when they sifted. I never knew that they found anything of value…but they found some of the most important things…
In this box were my father’s dog tags, my grandfather’s wedding band, a tiny football from when my father played for the undefeated SRJC Football team in ’48-’49, and a medal from my father’s time serving in Korea. Wow.
These are amazing in so many ways. Amazing because I never knew my family had found anything in the remains of our home. Amazing because you could see the damage the fire had brought upon them – a few things were even fused together. Amazing because these are small pieces from my father’s bigger-than-life time on this earth.
I’m going to restore a couple of these objects, and keep a few as they are and they will be the first things back in our home when First Interstate builds our house. These mementos were pulled from the ashes…and our house will rise from the ashes…and I’m ready.
