THINGS OF REAL VALUE

I don't remember many of the details....I know it was summer.   Probably around 1956 or 57.  Had to be a Wednesday because Dad was home and Wednesdays was his short day.  He always got home from work early on Wednesdays.  I remember he was reading the newspaper.  I ran into the house and on to the back to my room.  I could hear the screen door slam behind me.    I looked behind the door of my bedroom,  right there in the corner where I had put it.  There it was.   My baseball bat.  I grabbed it up,  held it tight in my 8 year old hand and headed back through the house to the front door.  Dad peered over his newspaper as I ran by and seeing the  bat in my hand he asked...."You going to play some baseball Wes? As I reached for the screen door  to swing it open and run out I shouted back to him,   "Nope.....I'm going to kill Leon.   In case you don't remember,  Leon was my black friend.  Why was I so mad at him?   I have no idea.  All I know is I wanted to take that bat and knock Leon's head all the way to the Wilson yard next door.  Dad caught me as I jumped off the porch clearing all 3 steps with a skip and a hop.  He grab the bat out of my hand and carried the bat and me back into the house.  That was the day dad saved Leon's life and saved  me from a long  sentence in the federal pen.  I can't remember what he said to me but I'm sure he didn't tell me how proud he was of me or ask  if I wanted to go to the store for ice cream.   He took the bat away from me that day and I have no idea where he put it but I was smart enough not to ask for it back.
 
Now jump ahead about 32 years to 1988.  I'm 40 years old,  married and have 3 kids.  It's Sunday afternoon and we go over to Mom and Dad's house for Sunday dinner after church.  Dad gets up out of his chair and as he heads upstairs he says, "I have something up here  you may want.  When he returns he has a bat in his hand.  I immediately know where that bat came from.  We look at each other and both smile and he says, "I hope you're old enough now not to take this bat after anyone."
.
We have an umbrella stand by the front door.  That bat now sits in the umbrella stand 23 years after my Dad gave it back to me.  All of my Grand kids have heard the story of the Leon bat over and over.  I really believe when I die, if my Grand kids fight over anything I leave behind,  it will be the Leon bat.

Isn't if funny the things we want to remember our loved ones by.  We want small trinkets that remind us of the good times we had with them.  One of my most prized possessions is a little bench my Mom's dad built so all his children would have a place to sit at the table and eat together.  I never met this grandfather as he died before I was born, but this bench reminds me of stories my Mom and aunts would tell me about him.

Would I like to go back and live my life over and if I could, would I change anything?  That's two of those questions that's hard to answer, but I think no and no.  I would be afraid if I went back and did change anything, that one little thing might change a bunch of things.   And I sure wouldn't want to change the experiences and the friends and family I've had and still have.   At times,  my life may have been a roller coaster, but boy has it been a fun ride.

Love and God's Blessings to You All until next time.