Gifts from Travels.

In some families, it is a tradition to buy gifts for those left at home when on business trips, particularly children.  I know that when my father would travel away on conferences, he would bring small gifts back from places he visited.

I recall when I was young, my father brought this sign back from New Orleans.  I don't believe I was a big fan of pirates at the time, but I thought it was cool and had it in my room while I was growing up. 

A few years ago, I stumbled across this gift again.  Coincidentally, the owner of the company I currently work for was into pirates, so I brought it in and put it on his office door.  He has since passed away, but Pirate Alley is still used to test products he was involved with. 

I don't think my father would mind. 

Back to School

Long ago, I left home for college.  It was 700+ miles away, and I had a car, so my Mom and I got in the car and started driving.  We drove for awhile and stopped the night at a motel somewhere along the way.  I do remember that instead of going with me all the way to Blacksburg, she flew back to Milwaukee from Charleston, WV, about 100 miles short. 

I made the remaining portion of the trip without incident, and at some point during my freshman year, my family visited to see how I was doing.  And as part of that visit, my mother bought me the laundry bag that you see on the left.   If you look very closely, you can see the remnants of Virginia Tech on the bag.  Apparently mothers can look at their son's dorm rooms and quickly identify something they need. 

The drawstring doesn't work very well anymore, but the bag is still sturdy and still holding dirty laundry upon occasion, mostly when we are traveling.