Something of His by Roarin' Fire

Something of His

A couple of weeks had passed
Since my father's death
And this feeling had been
Growing inside of me
The feeling that I wanted
To have something that was his
Something personal
My mother had told me about
The things my brothers were getting
Some of his tools, saws and the like
But I didn't want anything big
I just wanted a little something
Some small piece of him for my very own
But I had no clue as to what that might be

Then one night I was out at my mother's
To help her write some thank you cards
At one point we were in their bedroom
On my father's nightstand was a stack
Of several of his old driver's licenses
In an instant, I knew that was it
I picked them up and looked through them
Finding one that I liked
I looked over at my mom
And asked if I could have it
She said, "Yes, of course you may
I didn't know what to do with them"
She had found them in the drawer earlier that day
And just left them laying out on top
I put his license in my wallet
And it's there still

But sitting here now as I write this
I realize that I have always had
Something of his...

5.14.07

Author's Notes

The next day, I thought about having one of my dad's old driver's licenses. And that it was sort of appropriate since he was the one who rode with me in the car back when I was first learning to drive. Back then, we had a station wagon, a late 70's model Vista Cruiser. I hated driving that car because it was so big and long. My dad wasn't the most patient of teachers either, but then again I may not have been the best student. I remember scaring him once by taking a turn a little too fast. When we got home he told everyone that I took the turn on two wheels. I still don't think I was going that fast, but I'm sure I must have given my dad more than a few grey hairs during that time.

Then a few months later, I'd found that I couldn't stop thinking about the rest of my dad's old driver's licenses. So, the next time I was out at my mother's house I asked her if I could have all of them. Since no one else had wanted any of them, she let me have them. Once I got home and showed them to Kodi she asked what I planned to do with them. I told her that I was thinking of getting some kind of keepsake box for them. So, I went looking online and I found the perfect box at Design Toscano. It's a lidded dragon box. Kodi got it for me as a Solstice present. It's the perfect size and it actually holds quite a bit: my fathers driver's licenses and a few of mine, an old silver pocket knife of my father's, and a small piece of the bark from a birch tree from my sister-in-law's back yard, where we had a Samhain ritual when Kodi and I visited last October.

The dragon box looks perfect in our Renaissance bedroom as it sits on our dresser. And I love the dragon as it guards the contents of the box for me.