Tiny objects - big memories

Dear Diary,

Nineteen years ago today my dad died. I was still teaching but I was here in Maine because it was February school vacation.  I was in the middle of a snow storm when the call came so I wasn't able to travel to see him one last time.  That has always been something I have regretted. 

This little salt ware toothpick holder is a tangible reminder of him.  He always had a toothpick in his mouth when he was working on a project and I can't look at this tiny object without thinking of him in his workshop. (I've added a photograph of a boat he built and one of him as a young man in 1939.) It is also one of those objects that will cease to mean anything once I'm gone.  It will pass on to someone else and they will like it no doubt but it will hold no memories, just toothpicks.

My husband died on this date too, seven years after my dad.  It is a memorial day for me and I suppose it always will be.  I am thankful for these little tangible links to people I loved; these objects of our affection.  It is all we have in the end.