Coins

My Dad came to visit for the weekend - this was only somewhat of a surprise since he called us on Wednesday to let us know he was coming. Our other Labor day plans had fallen through, so it has been neat to have him over. Even if we did have to do the yard and other chores under a tighter deadline.

Tonight when dad came to the door, he was carrying a lawn chair that I had left at his place and a box that he said was fragile. He gave the chair to C, handed me the box, and went back for the rest of his stuff. Only later this evening did he reveal that the box was full of special treaures that he had found while unpacking from his recent moves.

The first thing out of the box was a pair of marraccas that my folks bought in Jamacia in 1983. After shaking them a bit, in what I'm sure was a clever latin rythym, I found that the rest of the box had a collection of coins and currency that my dad and grandpa had collected over the years.

There were some neat old half dollars (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Franklin etc.) a whole bunch of wheat pennies that grandpa collected along with coins and currency from Canada, Mexico, Vietnem, Guatemala and others. The highlights for me though were a bunch of pennies that my granddad had laid on the railroad tracks while he was working as a linesman for the northern pacific in Michigan and Canada before my dad was born. As you can imagine, they are squashed flat - but still identifiable.

Another surprise was a bunch fo tokens from the video arcade near our house called "Games People Play". That's where I first saw Galaga, Joust, Space Invaders, and a whole bunch of fun games - my dad used them for pinball if I remember correctly.

The strangest coin (even more so than an original Oklahoma turnpike token) was a very small coin that featured a palm tree, some arabic lettering, and a large number 1. It was a genuine widow's mite that was sent to my family as a thankyou for donating (or calling) a televangelist of some kind. I remember holding the tiny coin in my hand when I was younger and thinking about how little the widow was actually giving when she outgave all the rich giving extravagant gifts. If you know me very well, you know that I'm not all that into TV preachers nowadays. And the fact that I remember that message is very telling of what it meant to me .... and how much it continues to affect how I see giving today.

well, as golden would say - that's my 2 cents.