My dad consistently kept all of his loose change.
- He had a system of jars that held different denominations of coins.
The dime jar seemed to take forever to fill. Each time they would fill up he would then spend hours rolling the coins and taking them to the bank. They were deposited into the savings account so my good friend and I would be prepared for a “rainy afternoon”. As a kid, I thought this was a absurd thing to do. Dad consistently said one afternoon I would understand. I have since moved out on my own and my parents are getting older. Last year my mom called and said that they were having trouble with the heater. I headed over to check the circuit breakers and such and could not find the problem. I then venued a call to the Heating plus A/C worker that had inspected the system for numerous years. When he arrived he found that the electrical system within the heater was beyond repair. He talked with us and gave us the best possibilities that would fit the size house and the needs of my folks. After hearing the news and how much it would cost I began to worry about how they would afford such a extravagant installation. My dad just sat calmly and listened to everything. At the end of the conversation he went to the drawer and simply wrote a check for the entire cost. After the worker left I asked him if this was too much of a burden on them. He chuckled and said, “remember my coin jars”, I consistently said I was saving for a rainy afternoon. All those years of saving loose change afforded them the luxury of not worrying when repairs had to be made. Guess I will start saving coins tomorrow.