What's an item you own that, while not valuable, holds tremendous sentimental value to you

My grandfather Jack fought in World War 2. He said he was nothing more than a 90-pound kid when left home to go to war but, like most young men he knew, he felt obliged to serve his country.

His best friend, at one point during his service, was a young man named Sam. He had grown up in orphanages and had no family. Jack had written to his parents about him and they invited Sam to become a part of their family when the war was over. Sadly, Sam was killed in an attack on the ship, after which Jack and other survivors had to scrape the remains of their fallen comrades from the surfaces of the ship.

Following the death of his friend he was very down and depressed. An Italian man on the ship noticed this and used his skills to make him a gift: a bronze snake.

After returning to the hills of WV, my grandfather got married and had a son, whom he named SAM. Sam kept the snake in his bedroom throughout his childhood and into adulthood. He joined the Air Force (where he eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel). He always hoped for a son to pass the snake down to, but instead, his wife bore him 3 daughters. He later divorced, and his daughters had no interest in a metal snake. So, he gave the snake to me, the son of his sister. I had the snake on my dresser as a kid, all the way up until I went to college.

While I was away, my uncle remarried and his new wife had two young sons. During a visit to Baton Rouge, he asked my mother - his sister - if he could have the snake back, to give to one of them. My mom didn't think I'd care, and she was right: I had other more important things on my mind at that point in time. On a future visit to Crestview (where he was stationed in FL) I saw the snake displayed in his house, and that's when I remembered it and wished I still had it.

My uncle ended up passing away in 2006. His wife remarried, our families lost touch, and the snake appeared to be lost forever. Then, a few years ago, the wife reached out to my mother and told her she still had a bunch of my uncle's belongings in storage, but she was moving and no longer wanted it. She told my mom that if she wanted the stuff she could come get it, otherwise it was going to be thrown out. My parents made the drive and retrieved the stuff... and at the bottom of the heap of his belongings was the snake. However, for whatever reason, my mom never mentioned it to me... until the other day.

At Mother's Day brunch, somehow the topic of my uncle came up, and I said, "I wonder what ever happened to that snake." When my mom told me she had it, I was thrilled.

Today, the snake sits on my 13 year old son's dresser. I'm hoping it will be continued to be passed down for many generations to come.






TL; DR:

I got a snake, man