After my Grampy passed away... I was pretty tough. I was calm at the hospital when he died. I was dry eyed, and reasonable for most of the day. I persevered on, helping Mom and Grammy wherever I could, I stayed for every moment, even the horrible ones...
I kept my composure right up until the point I saw Grampy's little folding scissors on the window sill next to his lazy boy chair back at the quiet apartment.
For as long as I can remember... Grampy always had this little pair of scissors in his pocket. If anyone needed to cut anything... the price tag from a new piece of clothing, the ribbon wrapped around a gift box, the last thread from a sewing project... Grampy would whip out his little folding scissors, and say "Here, Use Mine!"
If you were lucky enough to borrow Grampy's scissors, however, you had to return them immediately! You did not want to the be the person to lose them. They were always sharp... because the Singer Sewing Machine Man would sharpen them for Grampy whenever he came to town. They were special scissors, so you never cut paper with them. Duh. Even when I was very small I knew that. They were Grampy's special scissors, so you had to take care of them. I remember seeing those scissors at regular intervals throughout my childhood, at birthdays, Christmas, regular sunday visits, at the Red A-Frame Cottage at Mill River, at the trailer by the Drive-In, on car trips, on the boat... even into my adult years. Those little scissors were there, like a piece of Grampy himself.
That day when we finally came back to Grammy and Grampy's apartment, after the worst had happened at the Hospital... those frigging little scissors. They should never be alone on a windowsill. They are supposed to be in somebody's pocket, so they don't get lost. I held them and cried for quite a time.
After hearing why they were so important to me, Grammy told me that I should keep them - that Grampy would be proud for me to use them and keep them, especially since they were so special to me.
Now these little folding scissors live in my sewing kit. I take them out sometimes and carry them with me in my pocket (like today, I have them with me) and sometimes I just take them out to cut the final thread on a project. I used them to cut the final woven in edges of my Ruttiger-Strawberry Stole. I used them to slit the tape on the box from the last yarn order I received in the mail. Every time I use them, it's like I'm getting to show Grampy the item I've made, or the treasure I've received. It's like our little secret.