A Lifelong Bond

I never met my grandfather, John Smyth. He died in the mid-1930s, a few years after my mother was born. I learned from mom that my grandfather had a previous life and wife before he married my grandmother. Grandpa John traveled to the Philippines at the turn of the previous century to work as a teacher. As I read in his little black book, his travelogue, I learned that he married a Filipino woman named Thelma. Most of the book was a daily log of how his new wife was faring. Thelma had fallen ill during childbirth. Not long after, he cryptically wrote that his wife had perished, as did the baby. His entries stopped for a while. A heartbroken young man, my grandfather returned to the United States. Grandpa kept his memories of the Philippines in a small wooden chest, which included his little black book.

My mother explained to me that the chest was kept hidden in an attic. She discovered the chest after her father had passed away. It was then that she learned of my grandfather’s life from more than 20 years earlier. Years later, my mother married, moved to a small village in Central New York State and kept the chest in the basement of the house. I always had my eye on it and in it.

I remember being small enough to fit inside the chest. Some of the neighborhood kids, siblings, and I created a haunted house. My job was to dress as a vampire and pop out of the chest as a customer went by. I like to think I was good at the job. It wasn’t until the 1990s when I gained custody of the chest and book after I asked my mother if I could keep it. As one of eight children, I was fortunate that it had not been spoken for by any of my siblings.

Eventually, in 2014, I planned a trip of my own to the Philippines, 100 years after my grandfather. I retrieved his book and read it from cover to cover. I wanted to prepare myself for the trip, as well as learn how the country had changed since his time there. When I opened the book, I noticed that the paper just inside the front cover was coming unglued. I hesitated to remove it for fear of destroying his book. However, my curiosity had gotten the best of me.

I gently peeled back the paper to see several printed pieces of paper neatly folded up underneath the cover. So as not to tear any of the papers, I loosened the page some more and gently slid out a small collection of documents. Interestingly, I had found similar items hidden under the back inside cover of the book. I was curious as to why my mother never found them. I carefully unfolded the papers, and, after scouring the internet, discovered that these were Liberty war bonds from 1917, first initiated during the first World War. I called mom to let her know what I found. She was more than surprised. I did some more research and it looked like the bonds had matured years ago. However, like any good fan of Antiques Road Show, I dug a little deeper and found out that the value of these bonds was quite remarkable. My discovery had yielded more than $20,000 in value. I didn’t have the heart to cash them, so I rented a safety deposit box. That is where the book and bonds remain. I’d like to think that perhaps my own grandchild will find them there in the next hundred years.