The Kassel Family Project Life 365

It was the perfect night for dinner on the patio at Flat Branch Pub.

It turns out that one of the new kids on John’s Fall baseball team has a dad that does sports photography. He took a few photos on Saturday and shared them with the parents. It is always neat to have some action shots.

Another year of BikeMS is complete. Andy rode 100 miles both Saturday and Sunday. We are proud of you, Andy!

It was SEMO game day, and I am happy that the marching band had someone taking pictures. If we cannot be there to watch, we can at least have pictures!

I took Ralphie home today after more than two months of hospital and rehab stays. When we arrived at my childhood home in Astoria, he said at least twice that I was to go into his closet and look for a big, brown bag. I finally gave up and went to locate the bag. Sure enough, I found it and took it out of the closet. Even though it was covered in years of dust, I opened it to see the handle of a silver tray.

There were a few other bags inside the larger bag, so I carried everything outside to where Dad was sitting. He told me to put it in my car and take it home. He mentioned that it had been in the closet for years waiting for me and that my Mom had wanted me to have it.

Once I returned to Columbia, I unloaded the bag, but then went about unpacking, cleaning up, and eating some dinner. Later that evening, I opened the bag and began pulling out the smaller bags. In the first bag was a coffee pot along with a napkin. The second bag held a sugar cube keeper and tongs and two more napkins. The third bag held a creamer and the fourth bag held a tea pot with a fourth napkin. In the bottom of the larger bag was a silver platter. When I looked at the napkins, it dawned on me what these were. It is the silver set from my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. The pieces are only slightly cloudy after being stored for nearly 50 years and the napkins are only slightly crumpled.

I cried. I looked up at the sky and told my Mom, “Thanks.” She always knew that family things are what mean the most to me. I have several things in our house that are worth nothing to anyone else, but they are worth everything to me.

I called Ralphie, and I thanked him repeatedly for making sure he sent these home with me. Soon, these will be on display in our China cabinet. I will also be pressing the napkins and sharing them with my cousins even though the napkins are generic 50th anniversary napkins. Some things are meant to be shared, and some things are meant to be found even after being stashed on the top shelf of a closet for over 40 years.

I had no idea what was waiting in that big, brown bag, but I feel super lucky to now be its owner.

I will be taking my stepdad home tomorrow, so I spent the night at Dave and Kristena’s house in Belvidere. I found this in their basement. It is always wonderful to know that you are loved.