I figured I would tell a little story that fits in well with my intro above. It's a story about my most priceless deck. After my initial interest in railroad decks and the start of my collecting, I went on a search for whatever might be lying around my folks house. There was nothing old and not much at all to speak of so I proceeded "The Bus" which is through the woods and up a hill from my parents’ house.
Back when my father was young, my granddad bought an old school bus. They stripped the inside, made it into an rv and took off across the country. They traveled all over the United states for years on vacations and have more stories than I can count! But eventually the old bus wore down. My grandparents parked it on their land and used it as living quarters when they would spend the day working cows or clearing pastures. This was perfect since their house was twenty miles from the farm. As for me, I lived out at the farm for as long as I can remember. When my grandparents would come down I would run to see them and we would go fishing or feed the animals or just sit around under the shade trees and the old bus was always there.
Time has taken its toll on it by now. It is mostly rusted, covered with moss and with brambles growing around it. But on that day I decided to go see if there were any old cards tucked away inside. After prying open the doors I found an old rusty tin sitting on the shelf and opened it to find a few shaving razors, a small railroad calendar, some first aid supplies, and a deck of cards without a box. They were very worn and discolored with a generic shellback design but I treat them like a treasure. The whole deck was simple; it didn't cost 30 dollars, didn't have metallic inks, custom courts, or anything like that, but my grandparents held it in their hands. You see, that’s part of my history. It's an heirloom I’ll hold on to til i'm gone. My grandpa is gone now and granny doesn't come down there anymore, but that worn out deck of cards helped them pass many an evening after a hard day’s work. It was a form of entertainment for us all when there was no T.V., computer or other distraction to fill the time. I have the back windows from the bus hanging on my wall. They are covered with stickers from all the places it has been. Between those and the deck of cards, I have a history I can touch. I prize that deck higher than any other that I could ever get my hands on.
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