A Dream

It's late at night and I awake after a dream. I was small. I couldn’t wait for Mama to arrive after a long trip. She comes with open arms and tells me she had something for me. I am excited to hear what it is only to discover that I will never receive it. Why won't it ever come? Where did it go?

I awake in the dark. Lying in bed, I remember the time my mother returned from a trip Austria and upon arriving home her luggage was lost. It was a simple, old leather suitcase but it had a great deal of memories attached to it. I was with my mother when she packed that worn leather bag. It was a dark brown color. A few scuff marks marked the life that it had lived. A sticker or two gave a clue to some of the destinations that it had seen. Inside was lined with a sliver cloth and pockets on either side. Mama carefully folded each piece of clothing and gently laid them in their proper place. Bright chrome latches attached to leather straps held together all the bit of home that my mother was taking with her.

This was not the first time this bag made the trip over the ocean. In fact, it had traveled quite extensively over the years not only with my mother but with my grandmother and grandfather as well. They also traveled to many location with that bag; Egypt, Venice, Greece. Always carrying a bit of home with them.

Time has moved on and now it is I who am traveling to distant lands. I carry a bit of home with me as well but no longer in a simple, old leather suitcase. No, today I carry my home in a weatherproof backpack on my back. Very different from the black suitcases on wheels being dragged behind other travelers. Maybe it’s my way of holding tight to the home I brought along hoping to never loose it.

I wonder where that old leather suitcase ended up. Is it sitting in a long dark warehouse, high up on a self marked by the fateful day that it was lost? Was it tossed into the trash? Does anyone know the memories that old leather suitcase contains? Does anyone care? I guess I will never find out.