A Parting Gift

Throughout my adult life, my parents would often buy things for me when I would go out with them to various stores. This was a trend that continued during the past ten years when Dad's health was deteriorating and he moved from going to a walker to a wheelchair when out and about.

Last week, I took Mom to the local Wal-Mart to pick up sweat shirts and pants for Dad, since at that time we thought he would need them when he moved to the nursing home. Once done with the chore at hand, Mom went to the books and I went to electronics and toys. We met soon after and the familiar question was asked, "Do you see anything you'd like?"

I jokingly pointed to some Indiana Jones LEGO and something else I can't remember. The limit was usually around the $5-10 range, so I liked to tease with higher priced stuff. I thumbed through the Indiana Jones figures since there weren't any Star Wars figures there I wanted that I didn't already have. I did what felt like settling for the Mutt Williams figure (Shia LaBeouf's character) from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. When I finally got home that day, I set him aside and still in his package. A week later and he was still sealed. It didn't seem important anymore.

Earlier today we were browsing through Barnes & Noble, waiting for film to develop at the Target next door. I came across a lot of the Indiana Jones books released in time for the new movie. Finding the trade paperback of the comic book, I thumbed through it and stumbled upon something that made Mutt a little more important to me. Don't read past this sentence if you want to remain spoiler-free of the new Indy flick. It turns out, as I suspected, that Mutt Williams is the son of Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones.

So when I got home, I opened him up right away. He's a pretty nice figure with lots of articulation and a nifty sword along with the tip of the Spear of Destiny. See, I think that Mutt and I both have great Dads. Sure, he's a little plastic man. But, I can't help feel a kinship with this little China-made toy. I know, Mom bought him for me, but I'd like to think of this as a last little gift from my Dad. Maybe I'm projecting to much into Mutt here. I just miss my Dad and Mutt here makes me feel just a little better inside.