Something Special

This is the last day of Jenni’s Blogtember. Crazy how fast the month went! The prompt today is: share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.

There are a few people in one’s life who make an impact in a very small period of time. My Grandpa John passed away when I was only twelve, and I still frequently think of some of the most wonderful memories with him. 

There is one memory in particular which I am constantly reminded of. He had an old marble game in his house; the kind that just sits there as a decorative brain teaser and nobody really uses. The goal of the game was to jump over and remove the marbles in a way that enables you to only have one left in the center. 

On one of our visits he showed me how to play the game. I was only ten, and he spent hours going over it with me until I had mastered the technique. Then he told me, “Now you and I are the only two people in the world who can do this.” I was so proud and honored to be the one that he chose to share his secret with. He told me the game was mine and I was so excited to have something so special. 

As we were leaving he told me not to forget my new game and I distinctly remember my parents saying, “oh no its okay.” I looked at them with a lump in my throat, not sure if it was wrong to accept the gift. My grandpa was very insistent, and my parents saw that we had shared a memory and he was giving me something to remind me of it forever. 

I got home and wrote down all of the rules to the game, afraid that I would let my grandpa down and forget how to accomplish the goal. He died less than two years later. Now I was the only one in the world who knew how to play. To this day I still go over the game, making sure I can recall the process he taught me so long ago. 

The sixteen years since then has passed so rapidly. Now I am a grown woman with my own house. This game represents a special memory and a special person in my life. Because of that, It sits in a place of honor in my home.