Preserving Memories - Part 1 - Dad

I lost my dad to lung cancer several years ago and even though I can visit his graveside and look at pictures, I ache to hear his voice, smell his aftershave, or see his freshly scribbled name on a birthday card.  That physical connection is what I miss, and I found a small way to regain that. As a long-haul truck driver from the “olden’ days”, his trips were recorded by hand in logbooks that he kept in storage.  Those pages showed his travels and what he did and most importantly, they showed his neat and tidy handwriting that I will always recognize as his. I got a hold of a box of the logbooks and pulled out the last full month of recorded trips he did before he became too ill to work.  It didn’t make sense to keep all those logbooks, but I kept that one month and put the pages in a scrapbook.  The back and front covers were made from two of many safety awards he received over the years and with the logbook pages folded in half, the scrapbook doesn’t take up much space.  Whenever I am missing him, I can take that book out, trace his name engraved in the cover, look through his writings, and clearly picture him bent over that book recording his activity.  It is a simple memory preserved, but it is well cherished!