February is a month of
anniversaries. It marks the celebration of love, presidents and even the birth
of my beautiful twin daughters. For me it also brings memories of the brother I
lost on February 22, 2008.
Each year I sort through a few more
boxes of his stowed belongings and come out with some new surprises. This year
I came upon a memory he had tucked away in his wallet.
You can tell a lot about a person
by what ‘s in their wallet or purse. For
instance I have large quantities of receipts in my purse for my expense
reports. Call it disorganization if you want, I prefer to think of it as a
relaxed filing system. Look at the details of the receipts and you can figure
out the entire layout of my sales territory. Keep digging in the depths of my
handbag and you’ll find clip on sparkle earrings, paint swatches and fuzzy
pom-poms. It would not take a detective to figure out I have little girls that
are divas, am redecorating my kitchen, and use “warm fuzzies” as a reward for
good behavior.
What kind of story are you carrying
around with you?
In going through my brother’s
wallet I found lot’s of telling tokens. There was a club card for his favorite
Mexican restaurant that was so worn out he’d laminated the frayed pieces
together. His collection of home grown hot peppers was represented by a pepper
postage stamp. In the window where most people keep their drivers license he
had a copy of the serenity prayer. It was there behind that printed prayer that
I found something incredibly meaningful.
A faded year-old Wal-Mart receipt
for $108.95.
At first I couldn’t see the
relevance of this slip of paper. The purchases were t-shirts, shorts and socks,
hardly high value purchases. Why had he kept it? More so, why was it so worn
out? There were check marks by each item and the receipt had been creased and
re-creased.
It wasn’t until I checked the date
and location that I remembered the shopping trip. I had been with my brother
that day. It was his final trip to rehab and I had come to visit him for the
day. We had gone to lunch together, walked the Old Town Mall in Winchester and
gone shopping. It was the first time in years we had spent time together just
the two of us, it would be one of the last.
Did he keep the receipt because
that day meant so much to him? I can’t say for sure. I know that the sword he
bought in a specialty shop that day is on the wall of my craft room. Doesn’t
everyone have a sword in their craft room? I also know that for some reason he
believed I was miraculous. He would tell anyone that listened what a fantastic
mother I was. Nothing I accomplished surprised him, because he expected me to
fly.
I can’t count the things my brother
left behind. We have an authentic light saber, every video gaming system known
to man and Matrix action figures. Beyond that, he left me the belief in
adventure, an irresistible desire to rescue the downtrodden, and the
determination not to disappoint his memory.
Besides what’s in my purse, what
would I be leaving behind if I suddenly left this world? I never let my family
leave without saying I love you, but I want to do more for them. I want my
daughters to know how to be strong women. I want my son to know how to treat
his wife and family one day. They all need to know how to stand up for their
values and be who they are. That I believe they are stronger and more wonderful
than they can ever imagine.
In this day and age we need to try
and leave the world a little better off for our time in it. I don’t just mean
recycling, though that is a good thing. Leave people better off for having
known you. Make an impact on your family and on your world. Leave someone
smiling one day when they sort through your wallet.
What are you going to leave behind?
