Memories making memories

Amazed at how the remarkable story had unfolded, she looked down at the card in her hand. It was a Hank Aaron baseball card inscribed, "To Sam, your store was a home run with me. I’ll try to hit one out of the park for you. All the best, Hammerin Hank. 1974”

Two years earlier, after her dad passed away, she had tearfully sat in his crowded home office surrounded by a mountain of memorabilia. She knew that now that her dad was gone she needed to sort through the boxes of genealogical information, immigration documents, handwritten papers and sepia photos, before it was either donated or discarded. The impeccable records were from all branches of the family tree, dating back to her great great grandparents so she knew that the file boxes were stuffed with memories that she wanted to keep alive, as well as stories she did not yet know. She grabbed the closest blue file box that was bursting at the seams and began her search.

She found a sheet of letterhead, printed with “Your Old Friend Simon Harris.” This was her grandfather Sam’s stationery from his 100 year old, iconic sporting goods store, where customers bought “nearly new” goods at rock bottom prices. She remembered the store fondly with its musty smell and disordered ambience. The “slightly imperfect” merchandise was piled high in cardboard boxes so shoppers had to dig through warped tennis rackets, mismatched socks, and “holey” sweatshirts before reaching the perfect pair of sweatpants. This was the experience of Simon Harris Sporting Goods customers - total disarray leading to total joy.

Diving deeper into the relics, she froze when her fingers grasped firm leather. She pulled out a little black book overflowing with frayed papers, and loose mail held together with threadbare string. The yellowed pages of the book held 88 years of Sam’s scribbled notes about merchandise, prices, buyers, and, most importantly, where all of the goods were actually located within the disorganization of the store. There were also postcards addressed to Sam from athletes all around the world. The Russian Olympic wrestling team, thanking him for their uniforms and the American Boxing team, excited about their new gloves with the red, white, and blue lacing. But what made her jaw drop was a 1939 envelope from the White House addressed to Sam. Inside, there was a letter from President Roosevelt thanking him for sending the set of miniature boxing gloves on his birthday!

Satisfied after a long day of searching, she boxed the black book with some other treasures, headed home, tucked the box away in a closet. and forgot about it until yesterday. She was surfing online and the headline flashed across her screen - “Home Run King, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, died today.” She thought about Hank Aaron’s legacy and her mind wandered to the past and all of the stories that create the tapestry of one’s life. She thought of her dad and smiled as she remembered the stories that she she had uncovered in those blue file boxes full of memories. Suddenly, her mind flashed forward to the boxes sitting in her closet that she hadn’t unpacked since she had put them there 2 years ago. With Hank Aaron and baseball on her mind, she found the box labelled “Simon Harris” and pulled out Sam’s black book. She opened it excitedly and noticed a small spot in the corner that was peeling away from the cover. Gingerly, she began to pull on the paper and slowly, in this hidden space, the back of a card became visible. With shaky fingers, she turned the card over and staring up at her was the smiling face of Hank Aaron!

Heart racing, she excitedly emailed photos of her card to some appraisers and card collectors. Within the first 10 minutes, outrageous bids of 10-15 THOUSAND dollars rushed back to her email, confirming that this card signed by Hank, in his record breaking year, was incredibly valuable. And she was told by several of the traders that his death YESTERDAY would drive the bidding even higher. She sat spellbound as she continued to read the responses and tried to grasp what was actually happening.

With all the bids in, she dazedly accepted the highest offer of $20,000.00 and mechanically gave the buyer the financial information needed to consummate the deal. She slowed her breathing and began to feel the weight of her incredible windfall. “The chances of this happening are so miraculous” she said disbelievingly. “Everything had to come together at exactly the right moments, starting 2 years ago, continuing to yesterday and leading to this fortune today.” To her, the backstory was just as amazing as the twenty thousand dollars sitting in her Paypal account.

“Its the stories”, she mused , “that actually create the fabric of the memories.” She realized that her best memories were the ones whose stories continued to be told, no matter how much time had passed. The memories created in her own family that had started the search to the little black book and the hidden treasure, was a story well worth sharing, she thought. She wanted her memories to start making memories for others so, purposefully, she picked up her pen and made a $20,000.00 donation to the Hank Aaron “Chase a Dream” foundation.