The Old Daddy and His Coins

A quiet reckoning at the dresser

The old daddy returned from his antiquated gym and plodded up the stairs to his bedroom on the top floor of his row home.

His tall, slim son was rifling through his cabinet.

"What are you doing?" asked the old daddy.

"I am looking for coins for my South America trip," answered the son.

"Oh," said the old daddy—still startled by the sight of it all.

The old daddy entered the bathroom right next to his son, disrobed, and washed his aching body in the shower.

While he was lathering up, the old daddy thought about his son rifling through his cabinet.

"That's my coin collection. I always pick up one or two coins from each place I visit. They're not worth much, but they mean a lot to me," he thought as he washed off his left shoulder.

"I'm going to ask him which coins he took," he thought as he scrubbed his right shoulder.

Barely out of the shower and wearing nothing but a towel, he yelled out, "Son, can you come here for a minute?"

"What is it, daddy?" asked his son.

"What coins did you take?"

"Why?"

"Because that's my coin collection and I want to know what you took. Can you bring them to me?"

The son shook his head with a frown and went to fetch the coins.

"Just put them there for now," said the old daddy as he spread the coins out on his dresser.

There were coins from Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. Each coin carried a memory and brought a smile over the old daddy's face.

He recalled many mishaps and many marvels from his travels.

"Let me calculate the value." All of these coins total €1.50. The most valuable coin is only about eight cents.

"What are you going to use these coins for, son? They're only worth €1.50."

"I was going to use them in case I needed to buy water when we travel into a country or we needed them for some reason."

"I don't think you'll even be able to buy water with these coins, but they mean a lot to me."

"Well, if you don't want to give them to me, then don't worry about it. You have a lot of those coins," said the son as he shook his head and left the room.

As planned for mid-afternoon, the old daddy, the son, and his son's girlfriend went to an Indian buffet. On the way, the son and girlfriend walked several paces ahead of the old daddy.

The buffet was 15 euros per person. The old daddy gladly paid for the girlfriend and the son. The girlfriend ate sparingly, while the son devoured vast portions of naan.

After exchanging pleasantries with the host, the old daddy paid and left a generous tip. "Thank you," said the old daddy to the host, and "thank you," said the old daddy to his son and girlfriend. They did not know what to say.

"Good naan," said the son as he walked out, still with a few pieces of naan in his hand and one between his lips.

As the old daddy walked home, he thought over and over about the coins that his son wanted. They were of little monetary value, but they meant a great deal to him.

He was going to ask his son's girlfriend if she ever had a collection. "Maybe then they would understand," he thought. But he refrained.

He went home and gathered half the coins, put them into a small plastic bag, and gave them to his son.

His son took them with a nod.

A story by Pemba Umoja