and baby makes 6!

There are times in life where something significant happens, and you do not recognize it until hours later when you are in bed, pondering the event.

Much talk has been going on via the internet about purging and letting go of all the “stuff” in our lives. I am a big fan of this idea, as we just purged a tremendous amount of pure crap from ours. I got rid of so much that I had held onto for years. Things that really had no bearing on my life anymore. Things that had not seen the light of day in a decade.

Then there were those things that I just cannot turn lose of. The stuffed animals that were mine when I was a child. Some of my kids baby toys. A small box for each child with some of their baby clothes.

Over the years my husbands family has handed down some things to us that were important to them. Most of the things are in small boxes in the closet, away from tiny hand that could break them. Many things, such a some furniture, we returned to them when we moved here, as we just did not have the room.

One of the things that was given to us many years ago was Bill’s grandfather’s black doctors bag. It was very fragile, and when Bill tried to use it it literally fell apart. We ended up throwing it away because it was in such bad shape.

Yesterday we drove up north to meet Bill’s folks for lunch and to exchange some Christmas presents. After we ate, we went to the car and the kids opened their presents, and we gave Dad and Sue their gifts. They gave Bill and I an amazing metal sculpture of sea birds….just gorgeous.

Then my FIL went back to the car and asked me to follow him. He pulled out a case, flipped it open and proceeded to pull out a telescope. Not just a spy scope to peep on your neighbors, but a Jovian 4 celestial scope. He continued to pull out lens, filters, and adapters of all kinds. I knew he was giving us a telescope, but I had no idea it was one of this caliber. No idea at all. I had told them that we were studying astronomy and that we would be getting a telescope sometime in the spring, so he decided to give us his.

He also pulled out another case. In this one was a Minolta 35mm camera. It has attachments to allow you to hook it to the telescope and take celestial photographs…photos of the moon, Saturn, Jupiter and galaxies.

He told me that the telescope was given to him by a doctor friend who came to visit them when they lived in California. He loved the view that their house had, and promptly went out to the store and bought the telescope for them so they could take full advantage of the fact that they had views of the California coast. It was a much treasured gift.

That was more than 25 years ago. It still looks brand new, as does the Minolta.

When we got home, I called them to ask a question about the telescope, and in the conversation that followed, my FIL told me that his father had given him a camera when he graduated from medical school. At the same time he also received a 70-210 telephoto lens from a dear family friend, who had since passed away, and he had meant to bring it for me, but forgot it. I told him that I would keep it for the boys when they were old enough to be reponsible with it, and he said “I gave it to you. You are the only one who has an interest in photography and such, so I want you to have it.”

I, his daughter-in-law, received such a priceless gift. Who am I that this family has accepted me so graciously as one of their own?

When Bill crawled into bed that night, I told him what his dad said. He replied, “I had no idea that is where that camera and lens came from.” I said “It really means alot to him, and he gave it to me. I know that was hard for him to part with it. Probably like the doctors bag…..the one we threw away.” Bill said “I feel so bad about that, but it was in pieces. In hindsight we should have taken it to have it repaired.” I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

Some things have memories attached to them. They may not be your memories, but they are filled with value, love and have been cherished by those you love. They are inanimate objects. You can tell yourself that you are holding onto material things, but the plain damn truth is that you are holding on to something of value because it was valuable to someone who means the world to you. By keeping it and passing it on, you are keeping a small part of that person alive through the ages.

It is my hope that my childrens children will gaze through that telescope and view the same moon that their great-grandfather saw through it. They will turn the focus, putting their fingerprints over his. Maybe they will care for it so well that their children will watch through it a man walk on the moon again…..or step foot on Mars. Imagine that.

I plan on buying some film for that 35mm camera and photographing some planets with dad’s telescope. My children will hear how their Papa came to own the lens, and maybe one day in the not so distant future I can photograph my son with that camera and lens as he walks across the stage and graduates from medical school, carrying on a famiy tradition that spans 3 generations to date (my Bill is a Physician Assistant). Then I can give him the camera and repeat the story of how it came to be and why he was now receiving it.

There are things in life which are worth keeping. Care for them well, my friends.

Things of value