Chasing Our Tails

After Dad passed away, Mom gave a few things to me for safekeeping - Dad's death certificate, a cheque book, a bank card, a little brown vial with something inside. I put all her things in a plastic case and put the package away.

The week, Mom and I finally went to the lawyer's office to remove Dad's name from the registration of the house. To do so, the lawyer requires a copy of the death certificate and the deed to the house. When I arrived at mom's, she handed me two folders and said,

- Which of these contain the death certificate?

Puzzled by her request, I looked through the folders to find an invoice for the funeral, a 2004 property tax bill for the house, and lots of promotional material for the funeral home we used, offering services we never used. I explained the items in the folders to mom and told her I had the certificate at home. She said,

- Then why was I guarding these so well? When did I give you the certificate?

- When we went to the bank to remove Dad's name from your accounts.

So we went back to my house. I opened the plastic case, looked through the papers, shook the little vial, found the certificate, and took it out. Then we went to the bank to get the deed to the house from her safety deposit box. At the bank, she said,

- One of the keys to my safety deposit box is missing. Can you find out if we can get another spare?

I inquired. Quick as a flash, they had a woman who spoke Chinese direct mom and I to her desk. She took away mom's old key, changed the lock on mom's safety deposit box, gave her two new keys, and charged $15 to mom's account. She said,

- You should never keep the two keys together in case you lose them. If you lose both, it will cost $150. For safekeeping, maybe you should give one to your daughter.

So mom did.

I brought the key home to put in the plastic case I had for her. Looking through the case, I noticed the little brown vial again. I've never looked at this vial. I picked it up and looked at it. The vial was labelled "safety deposit box" with the box number, in Dad's handwriting. There was the key to the old lock inside it.

I shook my head, took the old key out, put it in the garbage, took the new key out of my wallet, and put it in the vial. Then I phoned Mom to tell her about the discovery.

I could feel her shaking her head. She said,

- Well, we just threw away $15.

We sort of had a laugh about it. But I wondered about Mom not remembering she had given me Dad's death certificate and the key to her safety deposit box. I wondered about me accepting things from Mom for safekeeping without knowing what I accepted. But most of all, I detected in Mom's tone a note of resignation and loneliness, as if she were thinking we wouldn't have these blunders and extra costs if Dad hadn't died.