The bed was about 45 years old when Mom passed it to me months after my father died. I decided to repaint it for my daughter Melanie. The headboard was full of scratches.*
Just before I started, I noticed one of the scratches was a date: September 18, 1946, the day when my parents got married. This was the first bed they had as husband and wife!
Right above that was another name and date "Elizabeth, October 22, 1947."
"Who is Elizabeth," I asked my mother on the phone, "and what does October 22, 1947 mean?"
"She's your sister," she answered.
I knew Mom had lost a baby, but I never saw this as anything more than a misfortune* for them. After all, they went on to have five more children.
"You gave her a name?" I asked.
"Yes. She's as much a part of me as any of you."
"Mom, there are other dates on the headboard. May I come over and talk about them?" I realized it was full of stories.
Over lunch, Mom told me about January 14, 1951, the day when she lost her purse. Three days later, it arrived in a mail. A letter from a woman named Amy said, "I took $5 from your wallet to mail it to you. I hope you'll understand." There was no return address, so Mom couldn't thank her and there was nothing missing except that $5.
Then there was George. On December 15, 1967, George shot a rattlesnake which wanted to hit my brother. On September 18, 1971, my parents celebrated their silver wedding anniversary.
I learned about a nurse named Janet who stayed by my mother and prayed with her after my sister's near-fatal fall from a swing.
"Who is Ralph?" I asked.
"On February 18,1968, Ralph saved your brother's life in Vietnam." My brother never spoke about the Vietnam War. The memories were deeply buried. My nephew's name was Ralph. Now I knew why.
"Each scratch tells a remarkable story. How could you give this headboard to me?" I said.
"We carved our first date the night we married. From then on, it was a diary of our life. When Dad died, our life was over. But the memories never die."
When I told my husband about the headboard, he said, "There's room for a lot more stories." We moved the bed with the storybook headboard into our room. We've already carved in two dates and names: Barbara and Jackson. Someday the bed will be passed on to Melanie.
