Memorial Box

I kept a red rose from the spray that was placed over Dad’s casket.  As February approached, I put pencil to paper and designed a memorial box for Dad.  Since then, the project has been in various states of progress.  Finding a woodshop wasn’t easy but I finally got connected to the Eliot School.  From there, it was the basic woodworking class and finally private lessons.  I was extremely happy to find a capable guide in my basic woodworking instructor.  Jeff and I worked on the box for three days.  The first day was about construction planning and milling.  On the second day, we made most of the cuts.  The third day was reserved for hardware and final assembly.  After a lot of effort (and learning), the memorial box is complete!

Actually, I built two boxes.  One memorial box and one…don’t know yet.  The memorial box is built from reclaimed barn lumber (pine) on account of the strength required and imperfections exposed while absorbing the weathers of our world.  I left the exterior of the box untouched to preserve the metaphor.  The lumber came from a place outside of the city.  Selecting the wood is a critically important step.  If the wood is too cracked, bowed, warped, or damaged…then the whole construction will fail.  You can see below just how confident I really was.

The centerpiece of the shadow box is the rose from Dad’s casket spray.  He used to wear a suit and tie to work every day of the week.  All of his ties were styled in the vein of corporate conservatism.  I’m willing to bet that he only ever purchased one more tie after he left that line of work.  That tie is the backdrop for the rose centerpiece.  There’s also a small hidden compartment behind the upholstered shelf which is a perfect store for a few mementos.

I feel fortunate to have designed, constructed, and completed the memorial box (on Dad’s birthday nonetheless!).  Clearly, I could not have completed the box on my own.  I got some excellent help along the way.  I found that this was a project that resonated with a lot of people; men especially.  From the folks at the lumber yard, to the guys at the hardware store, to Jeff the woodworking guru…everyone took the time to verbalize their sympathy AND appreciation for, get this, allowing them to contribute to the memorial project.  It’s warming and astounding to hear that someone else was honored to participate.