I have no idea where else to put this. But I felt like this was the best place since I'm sad and I wanted to share the story.
Trying to pay for a wedding is hard. Especially when you have as much of a problem asking for any kind of help like I do. My dad is my financial guru. He's also a being of pure logic and math. He's a goddam pointy-eared, green-blooded hobgoblin. Anyways, we both decided that the first thing I should do is start selling some of my matured Treasury Bonds. I had been receiving them from my late grandfather, my late great-grandmother, and my parents basically since I was born.
My dad gave me the manilla envelope with the bonds a month or two ago. I didn't think much of it, but I stashed them away safely knowing I'll be cashing them in in the next several months most likely. After the conversation with my dad, we both decided that I should sell the matured bonds first and then look at the other ones to see if it's worth holding to maturity or selling. We get done talking about this late last night with him and my fiancee staying until almost 10 PM. My fiancee and I talk the whole ride home about family, both those still with us and those we've lost. We talk about how much I love my parents and how my dad is basically a Vulcan. It also comes up that I'm driven by logic, but my mother gave me a pretty big sense of sentimentality.
Now, we get home and I try to find the bonds stashed in my important document safe. I find the manilla envelope my dad labeled, "dx's Savings Bonds" and dump the envelope out onto the table. There is a ledger for taxes and there were also several other envelopes. A couple addressed to me from my grandpa, grandma, and uncle in my grandpa's handwriting. One of them has a little note that reads, "$5.00 towards small battery powered car". I don't even remember what this is referring to, but it sounds like something I would have asked for as a young child.
Then I finally come across a thick envelope with Toys-R-Us stickers and a couple of train stickers. It reads:
For dx
WHEN ALL OF THE TOYS, BOOKS, CRAYONS AND
GAMES ARE AT THE SANITARY LANDFILLS, UNCLE
SAM AND THIS BOND FROM FATHER TIME AND
HIS FAMILY* WILL BE THERE TO HELP PAY THE
BILLS."
*SOME HELP FROM THE SCRAP INDUSTRY.........................................FROM: UNCLE SAM & THE (FAMILY NAME)s
I smile and open the envelope. These are 30-year bonds. They're still paper, I don't think you can even get paper bonds anymore. Some of them are so old they still have punch holes for verification. I start looking at the design and realize, wow, these are still addressed to me and my dad at our first house. Then I start looking at the issuing banks. Most don't even exist anymore. Some are even from savings and loans banks. But then I realize, the first one on the stack is stamped seven days after I was born. I get misty-eyed right away. These were my first Christmas presents ever. They were from my grandpa. They're one of the last remaining attachments I have to him.
I put them back into the envelope and re-read the note he wrote to me on the front. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to cash them in. I just break down crying. I miss my grandpa and I really wish he was here to see them put to good use.
that is a nasty thing. Sorry
