In the thread that Art Thieme started, "Is It Me?" Katlaughing asked me how I came to write Handful of Songs. The song is really about what each of us has kept to remind us of loved ones who've passed on. For us, we will all leave a "handful of songs" that will be carried on and remembered in our family. The one common quality that people seem to cherish when keeping something that belonged to a family member is that it meant a lot to the person. I kept my Grandfather's hammer, and his old railroad watch. Neither of them worth a plugged nickle on the open market. But, they were a part of who he was.. a modest working man who was always on time. When I've sung the song, people always come up afterward to tell me what they've kept to remember someone they loved. For many of the men remembering their Fathers, it's a tool, a knife or a watch. I have my Mother's bible that her Mother gave to her just before she died on the operating table. A friend of mine keeps a hockey puck on his dresser that his Father caught at a hockey game and gave to him as a little boy. As the song says,

"Some may leave money from a lifetime of savings
Some just their name on a marble stone
It's not what you leave, it's the joy of remembering
And all I can leave you is a handful of songs

Spaw asked me to start this thread. So tell us, Spaw, what have you kept that brings back loving memories of someone? I know that there are many beautiful stories out there. I'd like to hear every one.

And what about you, Rick? And Kendall? and all the rest?

Jerry