To Whom It May Concern

Memories

I woke up this morning with the sun coming through my window. This is my favorite way to wake up - with the wind blowing the white curtains and dust dancing across my room. As I rolled over, I felt my sheets slide over my feet when I wiggled my toes.

I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, only to open them and realize my sister was still asleep in the bed beside mine. Her long, blonde hair still perfectly braided on the sides of her head to keep them from getting tangled through the night.

It’s Saturday, and I’m staying with my grandparents for the weekend. It’s my most favorite thing to do when I’m not in school or with my friends. My grandmother always makes the very best pancakes in the morning and I get to go on adventures with my grandfather. This weekend we’re planning on going fishing and digging around by the old pine tree in the backyard. He says there’s buried treasure somewhere on the property, but I don’t know if that’s true. He’s been looking for it for… well, as long as I can remember.

The scent of roses from my grandfather’s garden dances in with the wind. I remember when we planted those bushes last summer! He taught me all about how you’re supposed to space out the seeds. I never thought you had to do that though! I wonder how the seeds get spread around out in the woods?

Spending time with my grandfather is definitely my favorite thing to do. He’s a pirate! Well… not really, but he was a Marine! I think that’s kind of the same thing, maybe? Anyway, he’s really funny and loves to take me on fun trips around the woods. I wish I could spend every day here with him.

My sister’s up now. I think the pancakes are ready too, I can smell them. I can also smell my grandmother’s strawberry jam on the stove. She makes it fresh from the garden every week. It’s the best!

“Jeremy! Time for breakfast! Jeremy…”

Mementos

I jump as my mother puts her arm around mine. She’s looking at me with a smile. Always strong, this one. I don’t think anything could shake her these days. I’ve never known a stronger woman.

“So, with that said, I will step aside to allow the family and friends of the late Mr. Thomas Haskins Jr. say their prayers and their goodbyes before we lower the casket”.

That was it. The hard part is over, now. At least he isn’t suffering, right? He lived a good life… Being the last child alive out of ten siblings! I can’t even comprehend having ten siblings. He was a Marine, a fisherman, a gardener, a comedian, a host, a mechanic, and the best grandfather anybody could ask for.

I still remember the days when I was only a kid, laughing and playing baseball in the backyard. He taught me how to scratch my butt before I got ready to hit the ball and it always made my grandmother laugh. He taught me to drive my first stick shift, and how to ride a bicycle.

Growing up without a dad around would have been a lot harder without my grandfather. I’m not sure I ever fully expressed how much he meant to me. I’m sure he knows it, though. Dementia is a horrible thing, honestly. It robs the people who mean the most to you of all the memories you had together. I don’t even think he knew my name anymore.

I’ll step aside to let people get closer to his casket. I’ve already said my goodbye, and my mother is off talking to the neighbors now. I think I’ll just take my moment and walk around a bit to take it all in. I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic around all of these people.

You know… he never did find that buried treasure he always went on about. He said it was his father who buried it on the property, but his father never even told him where it was. My great grandfather buried it to keep it safe and told him that he would be able to dig it up when my grandfather grew up and had a family of his own. Unfortunately, my great grandfather passed away before he got to tell anybody where it was buried. Maybe someday it’ll turn up.

I think I’ll just lean up against this tree over here and watch from a distance. I don’t know many of these people anyway, and I feel like it would be a bit awkward having some stranger looming over them. After I graduated high school I didn’t come around enough. That’s my fault… You always think you’re too busy until the time has passed you and you can’t get it back.

Memoirs

Jeremy kicks at the ground with his hands in his pockets. Thinking of all the things he wished he could have done or said before time ran out. The sun was rising just beyond the trees and he could see some flower seeds floating in the wind, and reflecting sunlight back to the sky.

Feeling something hit against the tip of his shoe he looks down at the ground. What looked like a piece of leather was sticking out of the ground just enough for his shoe to catch on it. He bent down to examine it. It was a bit sturdier than just a piece of torn fabric. Curiously, Jeremy started to dig at the dirt with his pointer finger.

Black, with softened edges. The smallest bit of filigree lined the outside edges, as he uncovered weathered paper inside.

“A book,” Jeremy said out loud. He was a bit confused. Why was there this random book buried at the base of this tree? He pulled it out firmly, but steadily as to not rip the worn pages.

A book, or more specifically, a notebook. A diary of sorts. Jeremy gently flipped through the pages that had once been clean and sturdy, and were now frayed and yellowed. Clearly this thing was old, and maybe even older than Jeremy himself. He opened it to the first page.

“June 2, 1935

The baby’s due to be born today. Meredith says she’s

been feeling the baby getting closer and closer all week. I think the

older kids are going out to the neighbors to fish and play while I stay

here. I won’t be in there with her, but just in case… This is our last

baby and I don’t want to miss it. I’m hoping it’s a boy this time, but

I’ll be happy either way.

The last baby didn’t make it, you know. Meredith says that

happens sometimes, and I know it does, but… I don’t know. Don’t

make it any better. I always wonder what that babe would have been

like when they were older.

Well, I don’t have much wits about me today. Meredith is in her

room with her mother, and I’m just wandering the house looking for things

to keep myself busy. I think I’ll bury this box here finally. I plan to put our

life’s savings in there for our grand-kids to have. Need to find a safe place

for it so that nobody can get to it without knowing where it is. Hell, I hope

I even remember where it is!”

“Hm… That’s interesting,” Jeremy thought. Interesting, indeed, and maybe a bit serendipitous. Noticing that people were starting to clear away from his grandfather’s casket, he stuffed the book into his jacket pocket and walked back.

Mediums

Sitting at the table with his mother, grandmother, and sister, Jeremy fumbled through the pages of the notebook he found at the cemetery.

“What do you have there, Jeremy,” his grandmother asked.

“It’s just this book I found buried under a tree at the cemetery today! How weird is that,” He said.

“Oh! Was it just buried in the dirt? What’s it say”? Yelled his sister from behind the refrigerator door. “ Grandma, do you have any more milk,” she mumbled as she shut the door and walked back to the table.

“It’s like a diary, I think? It’s pretty old though! I’ve only read one page. It was sad… some guy’s wife was giving birth, but their last baby didn’t make it, or something”? He said while grabbing a cookie from the tray in the center of the table.

“You know,” his grandmother added, “your great grandmother had ten kids! Ten… can you believe that? I know she had lost a few too along the way. I can’t even imagine how loud their house was”! She giggled a little with a cookie in one hand, and a napkin in the other.

Jeremy responded, “ It’s kinda funny. You know how grandpa and I used to go looking for buried treasure? Well, apparently this guy buried treasure of his own somewhere. I thought that was pretty funny all things considered”.

His mother chimed in, “ Well, where did he say his was buried? Wouldn’t that be so interesting if it were your great grandfathers! I don’t know why it would have been buried by a tree in the cemetery though… Seems too easy. Maybe your grandpa put it there for you to find”!

Jeremy furrowed his brow as he thumbed through the pages. “It says here that the box he had was buried in… Well it’s a little smudged. Grandma, can you read this”? He handed her the black book.

Jeremy’s grandmother took the book and looked at it closely. She didn’t say anything as she read the page. Everyone sat silently, staring at her, waiting for a response. Slowly, she laid her cookie on the napkin and brought her hand to her face.

“Jeremy,” she said, “ it’s buried under the pine tree”.

Everyone froze. It couldn't be… could it? This little black book held the answer to his great grandfather’s long lost treasure? Jeremy looked at his sister, and then to his mother. Everyone was wide eyed as they processed what was happening. Within the matter of seconds, they all jumped up from the table and pushed their way out through the back door.

Running to the pine tree, Jeremy stopped to grab the shovel that was leaning up against the shed along the way. His grandmother followed closely behind, he grabbed her hand and walked with her the rest of the way. As they stood around the base of the big, towering, wise old pine tree, Jeremy’s heart raced. He looked around on the ground for any clues, any signs of where something might be buried.

He spotted a patch of grass around the back side of the tree that was just ever so slightly a different shade of green. He thought, “ There’s no way we missed this spot”.

Jeremy quickly pushed the head of the shovel into the discolored grass. Heaving the dirt away as carefully as possible in case he were to miss something, he hit something solid. Everyone looked at each other with eyes wide, and mouths agape.

Bending down to dig at the dirt with his hands, Jeremy uncovered a wooden box. He pulled it out and wiped the top. A piece of metal lined the top of the box, with filigree around the edges.

Thomas Haskins Sr.

He opened the box with his mother, grandmother, and sister kneeling in the dirt beside him.

Photos, more black books, and roughly $20,000 were nuzzled together inside of the box. A note on the top of the box read,

“ August 5, 1945

To whomever has the pleasure of finding this box. May it

bring you joy, comfort, and all of the memories from your loved ones

passed. Please find this and pass it along to those who have searched

their whole lives for the treasure of a fathers true love”.