THE BEST DOLLAR I EVER SPENT
On my work desk is a small, beat-up metal container that holds my pens and, floating around in the bottom, a bunch of paper clips. A couple small magnets on one side hold up pictures of my children and of my wife.
Three years ago, this metal container sat on my bedside table, collecting my pocket change. Later, I’d take the change to the bank, convert it into cash, and pay off my credit card debts.
Seven years ago, it was a great place for hiding stuff. It usually resided on my dresser or in the top drawer. For a few weeks, it even held an engagement ring inside.
Ten years ago, I held it in my hand as I walked out of an apartment. That little metal box contained a large portion of my worldly possessions.
Twelve years ago, that metal box held a small collection of letters written by a woman who I was slowly falling in love with.
Fourteen years ago, I kept a few pens and a small notebook inside of that metal box and carried it with me to class for note-taking purposes, getting a few thumbs-up from other guys who recognized the logo on the lid.
Seventeen years ago, that box was hidden in a loose panel in the shed outside of my parents’ home. Inside were a few contraband items a teenage boy might want to hide from his parents.
Twenty years ago, that metal box made a wonderful little home for a baby turtle that I named Mikey. I fed that turtle, watched him grow. When he was about to escape from his little home, I freed him on the banks of a river.
Twenty-four years ago, I stood on a school bus, holding that metal box in my hand and looking for my friend, who also carried a little metal box just exactly like it.
Twenty-five years ago, I was standing in a department store, spending a dollar of my allowance on a little metal G.I. Joe lunch box to transport my sandwich and carrots on my first day of school.
I knew my lunch box would carry lunch to school, but I didn’t know that I’d have it with me throughout the years and that it’d see me through so many life events. Best dollar I ever spent.
