Thing 13: Pick a small object to be given one day to your great grandchild. Write a letter to the child explaining why you have chosen this object.

Originally posted to Facebook on June 9th, 2013.

Preamble:
"This assumes that I will have a great grandchild someday, so let's skip past the justifcation of that. The point remains that I don't really own anything that would be worth passing on at that point in time... I'm going to have to fudge the restrictions a bit, methinks. To set the scene, imagine a young child rummaging through the attic of their parents' house and coming across a box. With a grin on their face they blow the dust from the lid and gingerly open it, finding nothing but the note below inside."

Thing 13: Pick a small object to be given one day to your great grandchild. Write a letter to the child explaining why you have chosen this object.

To whomsoever reads this note
With wonder sparkling in your eye
Consider now the words I wrote
Before I said my last goodbye

Around this note, an empty box
Or to the untrained it may seem
Not filled with gold or shoes or rocks
But rather it is filled with dreams

A place to store my deepest hopes
This box has been a secret thing
I kept it quiet, hidden, close
Away from life's unyielding sting

And now it sits within your hands
I urge you, friend, to hold it dear
And fill it with those ghostly strands
A touch of magic, there and here

When life is hard and makes you sad
Into the box just place your wish
Rememb'ring all the good it had
When in your mind it dug its ditch

The box will keep it safe from harm
Protecting all its innocence
And giving no cause for alarm
When later you would seek it hence

In short, my friend, this is a place
Where dreams and hope and warmth and love
Shall foster, free of farce or trace
The qualities you're most proud of