All His Worldly Possessions

If a suitcase could talk, it would surely have many stories to tell. Especially the old ones, the suitcases that have been around, so to speak, faded and well used having been thrown about in trains, buses and cars, and in my dad's case ships as well.   When his youthful and military traveling ended when he got married, it was stored in the attic and virtually forgotten about while life moved on in the house below.  He did add things from later in life, but not while it was stored in the attic.

Well, this one particular suitcase in the attic wasn't exactly forgotten about by everyone...little did dad know that he had one nosy child who had her eye on that suitcase, wondering what treasures it held inside.

Yep, that would be me.  At one point when the attic door was opened and the steps were lowered, my nosy little self walked up and peeked in the attic and saw a dusty, brown suitcase sitting in the back, but not so far back that I couldn't reach it... and open it... and look inside.

Little did I know then, that I was looking at the contents of what was left of my dad's life, things that meant something to him, things that he kept. These included:

• Books
• documents
• photos
• a pressed corsage, the one from his marriage to my mom?
• a clear plastic box holding among other things, Old chipped marbles of various sizes, a few of the only toys my dad saved from his childhood, and some dice
• lots of pins from his life including the Knights of Columbus pin, Typographical Union pin, an old "Newspaper Staff" pin, IGI (International Graphics) pin from the last job he held before retirement, and a Red Cross pin, he used to give blood to the RC, and others.  , 
• a few of mine or my sisters toy jax 
• a Razorback tie 
• an old Oaklawn ticket from 1998
• and two Sheriff badges he got when my brother took them to Dodge City
• A clock given to him from Dillards Travel, his favorite job  

What is left of my dad's things now

And lots of black and white photographs.   Most of which were taken on the high seas of  the pacific, Japan and China specifically.   My dad was in the Navy from 1945-1947, post WWII,  He was in the "clean up" crew but it was still dangerous.  My dad rode on the USS Hooper Island, that was sent to Asia.  He was on another ship - the USS Grimes -before that and was originally scheduled to go around the world.  I remember he said he was very excited about the thought of traveling around the world, but it was not meant to be, so he went to Asia instead.  

In Japan, there were still former soldiers and citizens who didn't want to be on the losing side.  They left mines out to be stepped on and hid behind walls and trees ready to shoot any of the Allies that happened on their beaches.  So my dad and his fellow navy personnel had to be careful where they stepped and where they went.

There were also grammar and high school diplomas, class photos, first communion pictures of dad in front of his house in Scranton, a Christmas postcard with a picture of dad in his high school graduation cap and gown from Subiaco Academy,  Pictures of his family from Scranton. and even an obituary of a man by the name of Buck Red.  He was a co-worker of my dad's when he worked at the Arkansas Democrat newspaper.  Buck died at 42 in 1968 of a heart attack and dad was one of the pall bearers at his funeral. Dad and Buck were good friends and he wanted to remember him.  By the way, I took that photo and obit and made a Find A Grave Memorial for him online, his name on the memorial is William Edward "Buck" Red.

Maybe he took some of these old photos with him on his travels to Asia?  I am not sure but I thought that all of those things packed in his suitcase were magical and I am glad I kept them.

I never saw my dad take that suitcase on another one of our trips as a family.  It stayed at home and was the placeholder for all of his youthful memories, and was in the attic for many, many, years.  I am not sure who brought it back down or when, mom or dad, but I have it now in the bedroom where I was raised.  It isn't as full as it once was, the pictures and documents were taken out and put in the box of family photos, which I also have.  The other mementos, like the marbles and dice were distributed to me and my siblings after he died.  There are some things in it still.  And the suitcase itself is still in very good shape.  The hardware is still in good working order even.  The key has been long lost to the ages, though.

So the little girl who looked in the suitcase at all of those treasures, has the suitcase and those treasures today.  I hope I honor my dad by keeping the things he wanted to remember.  I am glad I did because I love to think of my dad and cherish his memories.

What I took after his death