Grandfather's Keys

Dear Diary,

I was rummaging around a cupboard in my studio and came across the steel box filled with Grandfather's keys. He never threw one out. I loved the big heavy lock with the word "stability" stamped on it. It made me think of the monks at the abbey who take a vow of stability...to stay in one place their whole life.

Our culture is not a very stable one in that sense. People are always on the move. I've live here in Maine for 19 years...the longest I have lived anywhere my whole life. I've put the old lock on my end table where I write every morning to remind me of the need to have some stability in one's live...it quiets the soul.

Some of the keys had paper tags, like this one. Hard to read the old writing but I would guess it was for a safe deposit box in the bank. Another was to "Mother's small tin box". I wondered, whose mother? My Grandfather's...my Great Grandfather's? And what did she lock away in it?

I had a wonderful time spinning all sorts of stories based on these keys. We all have a closet in our heart where we lock away things. Some things will never see the light of day and perhaps that is all to the good. The secrets these keys kept are lost with time along with the people who owned them but it was an interesting way to spend an hour or two...I completely forgot what I was originally looking for!