When the heart sinks

 

Dad in the Army

Dad served during World War two in among other areas the Philippine Islands. I have a couple of the things he brought home when he returned, one being a ring. The ring was crudely made, probably by one of the inhabitants. It was silver color, although I don't know if it was truly silver. Engraved on it was P.I. and the year he was there.
 Dad passed many years ago and after his passing I kept the ring in our car, first on the end of his pencil that I stuck on the visor, later I got a plastic clip and attached it that way. It was kind of like having a small part of him with me. More than once when I was having to go through something I dreaded I would look at the ring and sometimes even put it on my finger, thinking if he could go through all he did I sure could handle what was coming.
 Every time I got the car washed, worked on, an oil change, anything where someone would be in the car I put the ring in my pocket to keep it safe. This week I was going to get the car washed and looked up to see it missing. I can only guess I forgot to remove it once after all this time.
 The person who took it probably has hocked it or trashed it if it had little value but they will never know what it meant to me. It is irreplaceable ... it was part of my Dad. As I said, my heart sank.
Ken