Stories from Dad's Collection
From Depression-era thrift to Korean War service, Dad kept everything… and every piece has a story to tell.
📦 Stories from Dad’s Collection – Introduction
My dad kept everything. And I mean everything! When he and my mother moved from our family home to their retirement beach house, Dad took everything with him. Even the wood flooring he had installed when he built our house. Because, as Dad always said, “You never know when you might need it.”
One of the reasons for Dad’s penchant for saving stuff may have come from his childhood. Born in 1928 and raised during the Great Depression and World War II, my grandfather’s motto was “Use it up, wear it out; make it do or do without.” Of course, I believe there is also a genetic tendency involved. My grandfather had a three-story barn chock-full of STUFF: jars of wooden marbles, balls of twine, boxes of tin scraps, and other items my grandmother had banned from the house. And my youngest son, who is on the autism spectrum, seems to have inherited the “keep it” gene.
In the two summers before Dad moved to an assisted care facility, my brother and I made frequent trips to “clean out” Dad’s treasures and ready the house for sale. Each trip meant we came home with our car trunks loaded with boxes of things Dad deemed valuable. Hardly able to see out our rear-view windows, we tried to fit at least some of it into our own lives, convince our kids to take a few items, and drop the rest off at Goodwill stores. Several Goodwill stories.
Dad at Ashburn ponds, Summer 2023
It’s been a year since Dad died, but pieces of his life continue to arrive in the mail, courtesy of my stepmother, who still finds things around the apartment she thinks I should have. Some of the items are strange, or wonderful, or just plain quirky—but they are all pieces of my father’s rich and full life.
And one of those boxes bore a simple label in Dad’s handwriting: Keepsakes.
What are Keepsakes?
A keepsake isn’t just a thing you hold onto—it’s a memory you can hold in your hands. Sometimes it’s beautiful, sometimes it’s odd, sometimes it makes you laugh, and sometimes it makes you cry. A keepsake doesn’t always look valuable on the outside, but it carries the weight of a story, a person, or a moment you don’t want to forget.
This blog series, Stories from Dad’s Collection, is my way of opening that box one piece at a time. Occasionally, I’ll share an object from Dad’s keepsakes—some odd, some delightful, all meaningful—and the story it carries.
Because in the end, even the quirkiest things can connect us to the people we love and the stories we keep.
🌿 Reflection for Readers
Sometimes the things we inherit aren’t grand or glittering—they’re ordinary, quirky, even puzzling. Yet tucked inside each piece is a story of someone we love, and a reminder that their life touched ours in ways that can never be boxed away.
Take a moment to think about the “keepsakes” in your own life. What small, everyday object carries more meaning than meets the eye? What story does it whisper back to you?
🙏 Short Prayer
Lord, thank You for the treasures hidden in ordinary things. Help me honor the stories tucked inside the keepsakes of my life, and may they remind me of Your presence in both the simple and the extraordinary. Amen.