Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

I always thought that it was kind of weird that inanimate objects outlast and outlive the people that owned them. The other day, I grabbed the shoeshine box that has been in my family forever to give my shoes a quick once-over before work. As I dug into the box, with its well-worn brush, pieces of torn facecloth applicators, and an assortment of polish colors, I stopped to ponder it.

My dad bought this box back in the early 60’s – the box is still here, and he’s gone.

The shine box is just one of the “things” that have lasted longer than the people who bought and used them. We all have stuff around the house that belonged to loved ones who are long gone. As a matter of fact, the tin of brown shoe polish still had the old faded price sticker on it – it was from Bradlees! So in this case, not only is the person who bought it gone, but the store is gone as well!

It doesn’t seem fair that stuff outlasts people. It does, however, give me the opportunity to tie it into my daily life -during supper, I launched into the shoeshine box story: “You know, my father bought that shoeshine box back in 1960.” Rolling eyes indicated preparation for another “back in the day” by dad story.

I think we all have lots of stuff around the house that has outlasted the purchasers themselves – and in some cases – the stores they came from. Does anyone still have his or her old BayBank card? I actually have a BayBank towel! I bet some of you still have an old phone with the little paper dial inserts. Remember the old exchanges? MOnument, SOmerset or PRospect? Of course, you remember! Sure, the old phones may still be around, but not the people who made so many calls on them over their lifetime. My mother (now in Heaven) used a phone like that to perhaps call Surabian’s Drug Store in Ball Square for some paregoric when I was teething (the empty bottle is probably still in the back of our medicine cabinet).

You would think by reading my stories that I live most of my life in the past, but I really don’t. Today I am happier than I have ever been in my life, but for some reason, I am reminiscing about days gone by a lot more frequently. Maybe it’s because I really enjoy boring my kids with my tales of “when I was a kid.” Who knows?

It doesn’t seem fair that stuff outlasts people, but I’ll tell you this – at least all the surviving artifacts keep our loved ones fresh in our memory.

So I am going to sit in Dad’s chair from Barbos, soak my feet in the “foot fixer” from Lechmere Sales, and watch the Red Sox on my new 50” high definition TV.

Did I mention that I am happier than I have ever been in my life? Good.