This column originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle on Friday, October 11, 2013
AN INSIDE LOOK
By Bill Gouveia
My
desk at my real job is a pretty cluttered mess, reflecting much of my own
personal life I suppose. But three very
special things are always on it, and have been for varying lengths of
time. They are: A can, a rock, and an acorn.
That
may sound a bit strange, but some parents might quickly pick up on the relative
significance of these seemingly random objects and how they are connected. Each one is a gift I received from my two
sons and my oldest grandchild.
The
can is the ranking member of the desktop crowd.
It is actually a pencil-holder, and is supposed to be either a rabbit or
a kangaroo – I was never really quite sure which. It was a Father’s Day gift from my oldest son
Aaron almost 30 years ago, when he was in pre-school. It is one of my most prized possessions.
Whatever
was in that can, now covered with faded paper, would have expired in February
1988 according to the stamp on the bottom.
And that old-school paste or glue had to be great stuff, because the
paper is still bonded to that aluminum as if it were welded. It can accommodate about 13 pencils, a
highlighter, two magic markers and a bottle opener.
Second
in seniority is the rock, which prefers to be known as a paperweight. For approximately 27 years or so now, it has
professionally and seamlessly held papers on my desk. A gift from my youngest son Nate early in his
school years, it ranks right up there with the pencil-holder in my own personal
pantheon of important and meaningful possessions.
The
rock – excuse me, paperweight – is decorated skillfully to look like a
face. While it was never really what you
could call handsome, it has suffered some physical setbacks over the
years. It lost one eye about a decade or
so ago (during a drunken brawl with the copy machine, according to office
legend), and attempts to glue it back in place were unsuccessful. The tongue is perpetually hanging out of its
mouth, making me wonder if it has actually been mocking me all these years.
Then there
is the third musketeer – the acorn. The
acorn is by far the junior member of the group, having only been with me a
couple of years. It originally came from
just outside my office, but it is who gave it to me that makes this perhaps the
most special present of all.
My oldest
grandchild (did I mention his name is William?) gave me the acorn one day when
he came with his mom to visit. He was
three years old at the time, and walked in like he owned the place (which I
love). He had a huge smile on his face
and was clutching something in his small hand.
“Grandpa, I
brought this for you!” he beamed, and held out the acorn. I had never seen a more beautiful acorn, and
immediately told him so. He was very
happy.
“You can
keep it on your desk,” he told me excitedly.
I assured him that was my plan, and placed it in a highly visible spot
towards the back of my cluttered work surface.
He then started looking around my office for snacks, and it appeared the
acorn was forgotten.
But in the more
than two years that have followed, young Will looks for that acorn every time
he comes to visit Grandpa’s work. And
every time, without fail, that acorn sits where it belongs – and my grandson
just smiles and knows I value his gift.
Over the
last three decades I have lost approximately 27,459 handwritten notes, 12,226
pens, 7 million paper clips, hundreds of dollars, and probably a few employees
- all in the clutter that is my desk.
But I still
have a can, a rock, and an acorn. I will
never lose them, because they are my treasure, my gold, things that remind me
what is important in my life. I look at
them when I am working, and they always make it easier to get through the day.
They were
given in love by my children and my grandson – and things like that you just
never lose.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and
can be emailed at aninsidelook@aol.com and followed on Twitter at
@Billinsidelook.
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