Things I Found in My Grandfather's Coat Pockets

My grandfather gave me his old wool coat this winter, saying he'd "outgrown it, sideways." I wore it to work the first day and put my hands in the pockets.

Here's what I found: three butterscotch candies, still wrapped. A golf pencil. A receipt from a hardware store in 1997 for a can of paint and a "doorknob, brass." A tiny plastic dinosaur, which I'm fairly sure was mine when I was about five. A note in his handwriting that said "Call Ed re: fishing." A single, perfect acorn.

I called him and read him the list. He laughed so hard he started coughing. He remembered the doorknob. He did not remember Ed. He claimed the dinosaur was "a stowaway."

I've kept everything in the pockets, exactly where it was. Every morning when I put my hands in, there's a little bit of him there.