The Suitcase

I found this big ol' suitcase a while ago. It was in our basement, which is actually a bomb shelter, and at first I was puzzled because I didn't recognize it, but then I remembered how this guy I worked for had given me the suitcase when I was a kid. I guess somehow it had been thrown in with the things I brought over with me from the States and I hadn't noticed it before.

I mentioned the suitcase to a lady at work and she pointed out that it's probably a good idea to get rid of it because it's just taking up room we might need if there's a war. She was right of course, and I got some friends to help me move it upstairs because it was pretty heavy, more like a trunk than a suitcase. The lock had rusted and it wasn't easy to pry open and when I finally succeeded I found some stuff I thought I had forgotten about. Something must have crawled inside and died, because the odor of rotten flesh and age old mold filled the house.

It took me some time to sort through all the odds and ends of my childhood in that suitcase and meanwhile it migrated through the house as I tried to find the right place for it. Sometimes my friends would come over and we would go through the stuff in my suitcase together and sometimes I would stay up late and do it alone.

My wife Yael is very patient, because a lot of women would have thrown out the stinky old suitcase and me along with it, but she knew it was important to me to make sure there wasn't something important or valuable tucked away inside. The smell of mildew filled the house and it was always in the way. Living around the suitcase almost became a way of life; opening windows to air the house out and tripping over it.

Then, last week a friend of mine sent me a huge bouquet in a beautiful vase. I put them on the suitcase and arranged the flowers and our house was new. Every morning I was greeted by fragrance and beauty instead of that stinky eyesore I had gotten used to. With the flowers concealing the suitcase and covering the smell, I remembered how nice it used to be before I discovered it in the basement. The flowers didn't wilt as I expected and here is Shabbat and they warm the heart and delight the eye.

Next week I will move the suitcase out of the house and perhaps even throw it away if I can bring myself to do so. I will some need help; the suitcase is very heavy. But it was also very valuable. Now I know how lucky I am. God gave me friends to help me lug my suitcase around the house, always ever closer to the door. He gave me friends who helped me sort through the souvenirs from the past and to brighten my day. He gave me a wife that knows that I hang on to old things and loves me anyway. I would have had all these treasures even if I didn't have a suitcase, but I would have never known how precious they truly are.


God bless Anat, Barry, Sharon, Stephanie, Tracy and most of all Yael, and double the blessing they have been to me. Amen.