I never thought to ask him

You often hear people talk about making sure everything that needed to be said got said before someone passes on. I thought that was true for me and my dad, and I still think that.

But what if a search of an old closet, painted the same bacterial green as the rest of the room, comes up with something you could never imagine him having in his possession? What if you aren't even sure that the object, possibly of some significance, belonged to our family? What if you go through the mental file drawer and can't think of anyone who could tell you? What then?

How come he never spoke of this object? Did my mother know we had it? Did we indeed possess it-or did it somehow lie for 40 years, awaiting its hour on the stage? What stage did it play on before?

I can't mention what it is right now, though I hope to, eventually. But I so wish I knew...what we will probably not ever know.