Tool Connects me with the past

The other day I was repairing a section of old picket fence that we had bought at a yard sale a while back.

Needing a clamp to hold one of the pickets in place as I was working, I went down to the basement and brought up my Dad's old, slightly rusty, C-clamp.

The heavy steel clamp was basement cold when I held it, but it warmed my heart, because I knew that it had been one of my dad's tools before his death in 1950 when I was 5.

Using HIS clamp to work on MY project gave me a special physical sense of connection with him on this Fathers Day.

I'm thinking about looking around the house and garage for other old things which might reconnect me with the past......for example these very old 35mm movie film cans in which my dad kept assortments of screws, nails, bolts, nuts, tacks, etc, each can carefully labeled using medical adhesive tape.

To this day I have all of these 65 year-old film cans next to my toolbench with the same kinds of hardware items inside each one.

Comments

Heather said…

That's cool, dad. I can totally picture all the film cans in the basement. Nails, screws, nuts, washers...all easily found. I think I need to buy Brian some old film cans.

June 22, 2009 at 1:20 PM

Vivi said…

I distinctly remember the smell of the old film cans and how you always had them neatly stacked in the basement of our two houses growing up. Neat that you were using your dad's old tools on Father's Day.

June 23, 2009 at 2:29 PM

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