This weekend, one of my brothers is here. Our task for these couple of days is to clean out my dad's office-certainly not something I've been looking forward to. 
Just as cleaning my mom's closet and sewing room were painful for me, I knew my dad's office would be a hard thing to do because it was such an important place to him. But instead, it hasn't been so bad. Don't get me wrong---it has been pretty overwhelming. But, it was so much easier to have Don here to help me. My dad was a super organized person (I can't figure out how that gene seems to have completely missed me) and everything in the office has been carefully filed away. 
There is just so MUCH of everything! His entire work history of the last 50+ years has been stored up there. Yet, because he loved his job so much, it seems that every nook and cranny is filled with a piece of him---things that have been fun to look through and reminisce about.
We used to get to help him cut electrical logs, glue them together and fold them. Then he used colored pencils to color code the layers of rock, etc. indicating where gas and oil were located.
One of my favorite things in his office (other than the desk chair that my brothers used to spin me in) was the telephone directory. I thought the way it operated was such a neat invention.
And both of us remember the leather paperweights used on the drafting tables. 
And how about these drafting table brushes?! 
Many of the maps in the map-room were printed on some form of mylar, and the hand-lettering and coloring were done with pen and ink. 
There were map pins . . .
a whole BOX full of pink pearl erasers! . . .
and every sort of measuring and map tool . 
All these tools from days gone by . . . I wonder what it is that our children and grandchildren will find special? What tools will be unique and different and remind them of times they spent with us?
Just as cleaning my mom's closet and sewing room were painful for me, I knew my dad's office would be a hard thing to do because it was such an important place to him. But instead, it hasn't been so bad. Don't get me wrong---it has been pretty overwhelming. But, it was so much easier to have Don here to help me. My dad was a super organized person (I can't figure out how that gene seems to have completely missed me) and everything in the office has been carefully filed away. 
There is just so MUCH of everything! His entire work history of the last 50+ years has been stored up there. Yet, because he loved his job so much, it seems that every nook and cranny is filled with a piece of him---things that have been fun to look through and reminisce about.We used to get to help him cut electrical logs, glue them together and fold them. Then he used colored pencils to color code the layers of rock, etc. indicating where gas and oil were located.
One of my favorite things in his office (other than the desk chair that my brothers used to spin me in) was the telephone directory. I thought the way it operated was such a neat invention.
And both of us remember the leather paperweights used on the drafting tables. 
And how about these drafting table brushes?! 
Many of the maps in the map-room were printed on some form of mylar, and the hand-lettering and coloring were done with pen and ink. 
There were map pins . . .
a whole BOX full of pink pearl erasers! . . .
and every sort of measuring and map tool . 
All these tools from days gone by . . . I wonder what it is that our children and grandchildren will find special? What tools will be unique and different and remind them of times they spent with us?
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Neat stuff!
I'm glad you were able to share and do this with your brother. Remembering is good!!
Deb
how awesome!! i remember that phonebook, too!!
Very interested post.!! Its really a great experience to clean out dad's office. I really like those office supplies.
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