My maternal uncle, the only sibling of my late mother, recently sent me a rock. It isn’t just any rock but something heavy with memory and sentiment. I picked up this smooth stone under the waves on the shore of Lake Michigan, on the western side of the lower peninsula of state. I was six years old at the time. I painted it with three scenes of nautical nature. On the other side has someone’s handwriting – I cannot remember whose – commemorating the event. I gave the gift to my grandfather, whom I called Banca. When I visited my grandparents I saw it sitting on his shelf in his den. Apparently Uncle took it after my grandparents died in the mid-70s, when he had to clear out the house for sale. He could have thrown it out. I had forgotten about it.
The stone came in the post with an explanatory letter from Uncle explaining he was clearing out his house and he thought to pass it on back to me.
Now the stone sits on my shelf, heavy with memories. As you can see, fifty years has faded the scenes to a vague three-way outline. Happily, the ‘back side’ is still legible, and now it sits that side up. I can read it every time I get dressed in the morning. In a way it resembles a faded headstone, the type you find and read in an old cemetery.
I decided long ago after I die I want my ashes spread on the shores of Lake Michigan. I want my ashes spread at sunset. I have added a second step to this ritual: someone should throw this rock into the waters after me. I’ve borrowed this stone from the lake for nearly sixty years; it will be good to return it to its rightful spot, along with its memories and my ashes.
49 comments
March 11, 2021 at 7:55 AM
Lori
What a fabulous story, that really touched my emotions. Returning the stone to Lake Michigan after you pass is a wonderful sentiment.
March 11, 2021 at 7:56 AM
Urspo
Thank you. I thought so as well
And the rock is a sedimentary type too.
March 11, 2021 at 8:09 AM
Hugh W. Roberts
I love what’s going to happen to you. Such a lovely story for this curious object.
March 11, 2021 at 8:37 AM
Urspo
I love it too – I might add the event can be postponed awhile further. 🙂
March 11, 2021 at 8:45 AM
Hugh W. Roberts
I hope so too. I want at least another 20 years of Christmas cards from you. 🎅
March 11, 2021 at 9:10 AM
Urspo
That settles it.
You are getting yearly Happy Christmas cards as a talisman against dying. 🙂
March 11, 2021 at 8:22 AM
anne marie in philly
what a prize; and your arrangements sound lovely.
March 11, 2021 at 8:37 AM
Urspo
Yes, it gives me comfort and ease to think on it.
March 11, 2021 at 8:28 AM
claudiajustsaying
What a sweet memory. . . just saying, Claudia
March 11, 2021 at 8:38 AM
Urspo
I always appreciate your comment – just saying.
March 11, 2021 at 8:43 AM
JanF
A very appropriate return for the rock. Meanwhile enjoy it for many decades to come.
March 11, 2021 at 9:10 AM
Urspo
let us hope so.
March 11, 2021 at 8:44 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
That will make for a lovely parting ritual.
March 11, 2021 at 9:11 AM
Urspo
Yes it well – provided it doesn’t wing someone on the way back.
March 11, 2021 at 9:18 AM
Moving with Mitchell
What an exceptional memento and brilliant plan. So kind and special of your uncle.
March 11, 2021 at 9:44 AM
Urspo
Yes it was. I suspect he too found it comforting to see it day in and day out as it was his father.
March 11, 2021 at 9:52 AM
Sam
That is really special that your uncle first took the rock home with him, and then returned to you. You are adding to the legacy with your final wishes. Just terrific. I too want to be one with nature when I no longer am walking amongst it.
March 11, 2021 at 11:14 AM
Urspo
There is a comfort I suppose knowing our ashes will someday bring forth other living things
March 11, 2021 at 11:06 AM
Linda Practical Parsimony
That is amazing. Let’s keep that rock dry for a while longer. Great story.
March 11, 2021 at 11:15 AM
Urspo
Thank you
It’s amazing the paint/covering has lasted this long
I suppose it’s amazing I have lasted this long as well.
March 11, 2021 at 11:25 AM
Bob Slatten
What a great treat, and what a great idea to one day, very far off in the future, to give it back to the lake!
March 11, 2021 at 12:11 PM
Urspo
I sort of grew up on Lake Michigan. It feels like the right place for me to return at the end of my Journey.
March 11, 2021 at 2:14 PM
Pat
I hope you and your stone enjoy a few skips on the water, before you settle in for eternity. Was the use of a lowercase “someone” a conscious choice.
Years ago, some financial advisor looked at “our portfolio”( and I use the term in jest) kept on talking about planning to what would happen when my “everything” passed. As I am younger by six weeks, this assumption was amusing.
March 11, 2021 at 2:49 PM
Urspo
Yes, the word ‘someone’ was carefully chosen. I almost used ‘somebody’ to assure clarity. I did this as who can say what the future will hold and what kind person will do me the last rites.
March 11, 2021 at 2:57 PM
Gigi Rambles
I loved this story about the rock – so sweet that your Uncle took it, kept it and then sent it back to you. And your final wishes to have the rock go back to where it came from is a wonderful idea. One that I hope will be a long time from now.
March 11, 2021 at 3:37 PM
Urspo
thank you
yes I would like to postpone this event for awhile. I have a few things I wish to accomplish before I dissolve into the waters.
March 11, 2021 at 3:47 PM
Pipistrello
How lovely Banca and Uncle kept your gift! And your final wishes are perfect. These things we all made as kids are often so quirky but are a tangible representation of the adoration we held for our loved ones. Coming as I did from a home where gifts had to be made not bought, I remember many of the strange things I made my grandparents and wish I had one of them in my life.
March 11, 2021 at 5:07 PM
Urspo
Yes it Is lovely. Homemade gifts are filled with love
March 11, 2021 at 3:51 PM
johnmichael42003
That’s so awesome that this stone was returned to you.
March 11, 2021 at 5:07 PM
Urspo
Yes, it is.
March 11, 2021 at 4:29 PM
David Godfrey
Touchstone to life in many ways.
March 11, 2021 at 5:07 PM
Urspo
Indeed so. rocks are especially important to me.
March 11, 2021 at 5:02 PM
Dave
My father died while I was living on Crete in 1969. Since I had to depart the island so suddenly to return to the U.S., I took a beautiful found rock with me. When we visited Crete seven years ago, I had thought to return it and should have, but did not. Your proposed journey for your rock is just right, but delay.
March 11, 2021 at 5:08 PM
Urspo
The delay reminds me of the finite of all things.
March 11, 2021 at 5:36 PM
Todd Gunther
Very nice story. :Let’s keep the rock dry for a long time to come.
March 11, 2021 at 5:48 PM
Urspo
Let us hope so! 👍🏻😉
March 11, 2021 at 6:03 PM
jefferyrn
It is a nice sentiment. Neptune society took my father’s ashes and return him to the sea. I plan the same for me. Probably 40 years from now.
March 12, 2021 at 6:48 AM
Urspo
I have not heard of the Neptune Society. I learned something.
March 11, 2021 at 8:17 PM
Steven
Surprised you weren’t called “Mikey” back in the day. 🙂
What a great gift to receive this back. And a nice idea for when you go to the afterlife. It’s odd when you mention “sunset” and “Lake Michigan” in the same sentence when I’ve been used to sunrises on the other side of the lake.
March 12, 2021 at 6:49 AM
Urspo
My mother’s side all grew up on the western side of the lower peninsula, so sunsets were in our psyches.
I was called Mikey
March 11, 2021 at 8:35 PM
Ron
A very nice sentiment.
March 12, 2021 at 6:49 AM
Urspo
Thank you
March 11, 2021 at 8:40 PM
Old Lurker
Your experience with getting a rock seems much happier than Charlie Brown’s.
What was painted on the rock? Could you provide an artist’s depiction?
March 12, 2021 at 6:50 AM
Urspo
I no longer remember what I painted. I think it was sailboats and freighters
or perhaps merely three colors?
March 11, 2021 at 11:51 PM
Parnassus
This goes to show that the most valued and sentimental presents are the homemade, the natural, and the personal. These are what really tie people together.
I too want to know what was pictured on the rock!
–Jim
March 12, 2021 at 6:52 AM
Urspo
I wish I could remember.
I think at 6yo I merely divided the ‘top’ in three parts and painted each on a different color. I have a vague memory I painted some sailboats but this may be false memory.
March 12, 2021 at 8:06 AM
larrymuffin
This is a wonderful entry, just love it. There is no better memories than objects from a distant past holding that spell of long ago.
March 12, 2021 at 8:13 AM
Urspo
thank you L
I realize this one is ‘done well’ and I am pleased others like yourself found it a good read
March 13, 2021 at 2:57 PM
Robert
I like this piece of history a lot.