treasure trove

Last month a little wooden drawer box made its way to me via my mother and my aunt. It's been sitting in the cellar (I believe) probably since the 1940's. It is my father's boyhood private collection of bits and bobs - you know, the assortment of stuff one collects as a kid and puts in a bedroom drawer. In this case there's a Pop-eye pencil sharpener, a beetle clicker, marbles, a broken fob watch...well, all the things you can see. I remember my secret drawer had amongst other things; Matchbox cars, a lucky Pez dispenser, and one of my Dad's old watches. Just like my dad had too - an old watch that was probably my Grandpa's.
My Dad died in 2001 with the box still undiscovered, but the stories it contains - a little kid's treasures from small town Australia in wartime bring him back into focus in a genuinely and surprisingly close way for me.

extra: a little bit of balance- one of my mum's iris that she gave me last year has come into early flower.