BURIED TREASURE
by
Grandma
Baadsgaard
Happy 10th
birthday Mitchell - my fellow archaeologist.
Mitchell liked to dig in the back yard
next to the old fence at Grandma’s house because there was an elevated mound
there. Mitchell’s grandma was once an archaeology dig volunteer in Israel and
she taught him about finding buried treasure.
“Always look for a rise or elevated
mound,” Grandma said. “When the earth is disturbed, it always leaves some kind
of evidence.”
When Mitchell took his grandma to the
mound by the fence she smiled.
“Good detective work Mitchell,” Grandma
said. “That is where my grandma and grandpa used to bury their garbage. Trash
heaps contain lots of buried treasure for archaeologists. That is where we make
our best discoveries.”
“But garbage isn’t interesting,”
Mitchell said. “It’s just trash.”
“Actually,” Grandma said, “garbage contains
the hidden story of a past life. Remnants of food like seeds or nuts, bits of
old wool clothing, kiln fired dishes, and broken household items can paint an
interesting picture and they are all a piece of the puzzle.”
“Why would I want to find old junk?”
“Because that is how we discover how
people used to live . . . what they ate, how they dressed, where they worked,
what was important to them and how they died. Museums are filled with rich
people’s stuff. But garbage dumps tell us how the common man lived.”
“What is a common man?”
“A common man is someone like you and
me. Kings, queens have their possessions preserved in museums, but the common
man needs someone who will do the work to discover that their lives were
interesting enough to study and learn from.”
Mitchell scratched his head and thought
a while. Then he started digging. Grandma went back in the house. Before long
Mitchell found a broken rusty metal tool. Next he found a broken bowl with a strange
symbol in the glaze. Mitchell was intrigued. He walked back to Grandma’s house
and asked her about his ancestors who lived on her land before she did. He
found out that his great-grandma was a spinner and a weaver. His great-grandpa
was a blacksmith.
“They didn’t have stores back then,”
Grandma said. “They had to make everything they needed with their own hands.”
Mitchell showed Grandma the broken bowl
with a symbol in the glaze.
“Do you know what this symbol means?”
Mitchell asked.
“No, I don’t,” Grandma said. “But I have
friends at the university I could ask.”
Several weeks later Mitchell went back
to his grandma’s house and asked if she knew what the symbol meant. Grandma
took the broken bowl from the closet and sat down next to Mitchell.
“I found a professor in ancient
languages,” Grandma said. “She told me these symbols mean love in Hebrew.”
“Why would my ancestors put that word in
Hebrew on a bowl? I thought they were just farmers.”
“Apparently they were something more,”
Grandma said. “The professor said the Hebrew word for love is Ahava which is
made of three basic Hebrew letters. Those letters are broken down into two
parts: a two letter base or root, and the first letter which is a modifier.”
“That sounds too complicated for me,”
Mitchell answered.
“The meaning of the gleph which precedes
these two letters modifies the meaning of the base word, “give”. The meaning of
these symbols is “I give” and also “love”. Apparently your ancestors knew that
love is giving.”
“Farmers have deep thoughts?”
“Yes,” Grandma said. Perhaps the
deepest. They are close to the earth and understand the law of the harvest.”
Mitchell scratched his head.
“I’m an old lady now and I know that
loving someone gives our lives meaning and purpose. The truest relationships
are those where mutual giving takes place. Without mutual giving, a loving
relationship won’t last.”
Mitchell picked up the broken bowl with
the Hebrew symbols.
‘I wonder how those guys knew the
symbols for love in Hebrew and why it was important to them,” Mitchell said.
“One of your great-grandfathers on your
grandpa’s side was the man who gave a bag of gold to Orson Hyde so he would
have the means to travel to Palestine and dedicate the Holy Land.”
“Really Grandma? I had a rich ancestor.”
“He was rich because he gave his gold
away,” Grandma said.
“Maybe that is where the knowledge of those
Hebrew symbols came from,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell picked up the broken bowl and
ran his fingers over the symbols for love. Then he noticed the large gaping crack
on the side.
“Too bad this bowl is not good for
anything anymore,” Mitchell said. “I think I’ll just throw it away. It can’t
even hold water.”
Grandma took the bowl from Mitchell and
held it near her heart.
“Don’t throw something meaningful away
because it is broken. We all need repair. The broken part of our life is still
a beautiful part of our story that can always be mended with love. It is never
too late.”
Grandma found some gold molding compound
in her closet and mixed it with water. She slowly filled the large crack in the
bowl with gold then stepped back to look at it.
“It looks beautiful Grandma,” Mitchell
said taking the bowl and turning it around in his hands. “I’m glad I didn’t
throw it away.”
Grandma took Mitchell in her arms and
held him close.
“I love you Mitchell,” Grandma said. You are my treasure."
