The Tiny Box

A month ago, I was picking up my girlfriend to head out for dinner. I have known Lynn for 15 years or more. We met in the office of the doctor I was seeing at the time. She was our doctor's nurse and would do the vitals and get everything ready for Dr. O. You don't normally know the staff at the doctor's office but Rocketman and I had recently started allergy shots. If you know anything about them, you start with shots (one in each arm for me) every week, then every two weeks and then monthly. You have to wait in the waiting room a half hour to make sure you do not have a reaction and then you have a nurse check each arm before leaving. Through the years we got to know everyone on Dr. O's staff along with the receptionists. Lynn and I got especially close. I have been to her home many times for dinners and celebrations. But this particular time I was thrown for a loop - in a good way.

She was grabbing her purse and coat but stopped and said, "I have something I have to give to you." This tiny box is what she gave me. She said many years ago a former patient had given her the box. He was of Japanese dissent and also a doctor. In his spare time he liked to make handmade boxes. I recognized immediately the Japanese hanji paper. This perfect box was amazing to me. He told her that the box was not for her but for her to hold onto and take special care of it until she felt compelled to give it to someone. He passed away a few years ago well into his 70's.

At that moment in time, she knew she had to give it to me. We both don't know what it means but both feel that it does indeed mean something. Only time will tell. Do you believe in signs? I do strongly and am still trying to figure this one out. But for one thing, it does make a great story.