Back, over 40 years ago, my grandfather brought me a souvenir from Rome. It was simple, non-descript, and how I wish I still had it. Its funny what we take as touchstones in our lives. My grandfather brought me a stone. I didn't appreciate then, it was cool, very cool, but I was nine or ten, and didn't realize how special it was.
It is long gone, I probably didn't have it that long. I have vague memories of it kicking around a drawer down stairs in Roblin. Then it just disappeared. Not suddenly, it passed from thought. When I was older, away from home I looked for it from time to time. But by that time it was some sort of chimera, although I knew it existed, I had no idea when it passed from my possession.
Now I long for it. When it appears in my memory, as it has a lot lately, I regret, deeply regret, not treasuring it as the incredible gift it was. Most of that regret comes from the idea that it was grandpa's gift to me, something that in all of Europe, he most thought was special. But part of the regret was for what it was.
My grandfather brought me a stone… it was a piece of the Colosseum.
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What a very cool thing. I have a piece of the Berlin Wall that my mother brought me. I *think* I know where it is.
I’ll bet your mother threw it away when you weren’t looking! My mom used to do that with my “junk”.
It is especially moving that he thought of you, his grandson, while he was there in Europe. What a truly wonderful gift, a piece of the Coliseum.
They do bad things to you now if you try and take pieces of the Colosseum.
I’ve heard of a number of people who had a piece of the Berlin Wall, thats cool owning that bit of history Liza.
Its very likely that mom tossed it Nancy, but it was incumbent on me to know just how special it was and not to let that happen. Unfortunately it is all my doing.
It was special robin andrea. There are so many things I’d like to ask him now, that trip is one of them.
I know Craig, it may be possible that they’d do those bad things to people who took a piece back then if they caught them. I understand how wrong it is, if every visitor would do it there wouldn’t be anything left. I had heard that he had a stained glass hand from one of the windows in the cathedral in Arras, picked up from the street during the destruction in the Great War. I thought a lot about what I’d do if it was true (I never saw such a thing and I imagine I would have) and it came into my possession. I think the right thing would be to have a duplicate made, and then return the original to Arras.