Today this box came back to me. I made it 5 years ago for Helen, my aunt. As usual, I did it at the last minute and I remember taking the lid and my carving knives with me on a short camping trip. I sat at the picnic table and carved. The chips went straight into the fire pit. When we got home I attached the lid to the box, oiled and waxed it and took it with me to the family gathering.
Helen w
as thrilled. I could count on her to take an interest in what I did and to be enthusiastic about my latest endeavors whatever they were. I know she used the box because when we visited her later that year I saw it sitting on the table stuffed with mail. I was pleased the box had become part of her everyday life.Today Richard and I attended her memorial service in the small city where she spent much of her adult life. As we prepared to come home my cousin returned the box to me. As I turn it over in my hands I see the flaws and appreciate that Helen saw past the flaws in the box even as she saw past the flaws in people. I will miss her.
The box needs another coat of oil. Tomorrow I will take it into the shop, put oil on it and rub it in, first with a rag and then with my hands. When the oil is dry I will give it a coat of wax. Then I will find a place for it in my everyday life. When I look at it I will think of its real home, on a table in the afternoon sunlight with envelopes protruding from under the lid and I will remember Helen.
