I want to tell you a story about how wonderful my Mom is.
Having a three-year old son allows me to re-indulge in something from my own childhood: Legos.
I've been buying legos "for Colin" since before he was even born. For a long time I couldn't get him interested in them, so I was worried. Then, about two months ago, we opened a set of legos where you can build a fire engine, a helicopter, some buildings, and more. We probably built and rebuilt the fire engine about 20 times. Of course Colin's interest in Legos increased my appetite for them as well.
Some time ago my Mom gave me a little box of Legos, probably as a Christmas present. I don't remember when exactly, but I'd guess around 10 years ago. This little box is the 49-piece set from 1976 to build the "Spirit of St. Louis" airplane. I never opened it. Its still sealed in the box and has a price tag from Pay Less. Out of curiosity I searched for something like this on ebay and found one for sale for $350! Mine is not for sale...
While searching and googling I found a number of fascinating Lego web sites. There's a site that catalogs every set ever made, including all the pieces and instructions. There is another site where you can buy and sell every kind of lego brick ever made. You can buy individual bricks for $0.01 or someone's entire collection for $12,000.
I particularly like the web site that shows all the sets ever made. I browsed through it for sets made around the time I was 8, 9, 10 years old. When I came across set #404 "Universal Building Set," a whole mess of wonderful memories came flooding back. I'm sure that wasn't the only Lego set I had, but it was the best. It cost $40 back then, which I'm sure was a lot of money. It was so great to see a picture of that toy I spent so much time with. I also remembered spending a lot of time building the Sea Plane set. That was my favorite.
In fact, I decided that I should build myself a Sea Plane now. So I went to the web site to get a list of pieces I would need, and the instructions. Then I went to my own (I mean Colin's) collection of second-hand Legos. It was clear that I didn't have many of the pieces I would need, so I ordered all the pieces from a seller. They would be here in a few days.
Meanwhile, we were at Grandma Theresa's house last weekend. I was thinking that Spring means garage sales. I mentioned to my Mom that I was trying to build up my collection of legos, so if she happens to see any at a garage sale, she should buy them. Then she said that she still had some of my old legos down in the basement.
"You mean they aren't in the box that Jacob plays with?"
"No, but he knows they are there and would like to play with them."
She told me I could find them in an old ski boot box under some board games. So I dug them out and brought them upstairs. It was great to see my old lego collection again! Most of the pieces were from that famous set #404 I think. Lots of wheels, and doors, and windows. It also looked like there were all the necessary pieces to build a Sea Plane!! Wow!
I took the box home and, after getting Colin to sleep, set out to see what was there. I got the instructions for the plane and started putting it together. About half way through I decided to separate all the bricks by color. As a 10-year old I was never that organized -- I would just dump them all over the floor. Not only was I able to build that airplane, there were enough pieces to build two! I think I stayed up until 2am that night searching, sorting, building, and reliving some great memories.
I don't think she intended it, but my Mom just gave me one of the best birthday presents ever. Thanks Mom! Thanks for keeping my Legos for 30 years. Thanks for moving them every time you moved to a new house. Thanks for hiding them in your basement so that I could rediscover them as I remembered them.
