Samsonite

There was a recent news story about airport terminal baggage theft. It seems to be so easy to walk up to the luggage carousel and lift a bag undetected. Not all airports have security guards at the exits, matching claim tickets to the bag in question.

They recommended using bright or unusual colors, since the popular black bags could be removed, unnoticed by the owner.  One reporter joked that might use your mother’s old Samsonites from the 1960’s.

That would be mine. The set of 3 pieces were given to me by my parents as a high school graduation gift. They reinforced the message that all of us had heard since we were teenagers.

Eighteen and Out.

After high school, we were to be out of my parents’ home. It was college, or military service, our own business, whatever.

My father never had a role model in his own childhood; he lost his dad to mental illness and hospitalization after the Great Depression.

In spite of that, he married, had 6 children, became exhausted at the very idea that we would hang around beyond the time that was necessary.

When he lost my mother to cancer, there were still 3 teenagers living at home who might have helped him through the adjustment and grief. They were given the same message.

“I’ve raised you. Good bye”.

It was never said aloud in those words, but the intent was clear. We all complied.

He was alone for a few years when he found and married a lady 20 years his junior, a working mother of 2 grown children.

I kept the 3 pieces of blue Samsonite for much longer than I needed. They were heavy, durable, the inside liners were a bit torn and stained, but they survived many decades of use and  abuse.

I kept them as a reminder of the independent spirit that was encouraged, even forced upon us, from a very young age.