Last year my dad was cleaning out the attic and found a box with pieces of a model ship inside.  He had purchased it in the 70s to someday assemble and after 30 plus years of moving and living in 5 different states, he finally decided to take this old ship out of the box and put it together.  Now, you can’t find ships like this anymore…it even came with blueprints!  But the amazing man that my dad is, he was able to put this boat together in no time and have fun while doing it!  (Now, we are talking about a man that learned woodworking in high school and has designed and built half of the houses we have lived in during our lives, built a gazebo for my mom for fun during the summer, designs and creates grandfather clocks along with beautiful desk clocks to give away to family members during Christmas, hand cuts tile mosaics to place in the bathroom, reroutes electrical and A/C connections in the house, and my favorite – built a two-story playhouse for my sister and I when we were little that consisted of electricity with inside and outside lighting, a porch, actual glass windows, a working ceiling fan and a zip-line pulley system as our backdoor escape route – and all this is ONLY his hobby…yes, I have an AMAZING dad!)  Well, I could go on and on about my dad and all the amazing projects he has done in his life, but since Father’s Day just passed, I wanted to share a personal story that recently happened this past weekend…

Last month, my husband and I ventured to Yogyakarta, Indonesia…what an amazing trip (more on that later).  But while we were in Indonesia touring the sights, one day we stopped at a famous sterling silver shop that just so happened to make miniature ships completely out of sterling silver – all hand made.  After looking through all the ships, I fell in love with one – a replica of an old Indonesian fishing ship – what a perfect Father’s Day gift for my dad!  So after safely transporting the ship on my lap back to Malaysia, I packaged it up tight (well, so I thought) and sent it on it’s way to my parents.  Little did I know, what would happen next.

Father’s Day couldn’t arrive soon enough and when it did, I eagerly jumped on Skype to watch as my dad opened his gift.  As he was slowly pulling the glass enclosed case out of the box, I heard a sigh from my mom as she quietly said, “Ah, honey, it’s in pieces.”  After realizing that she was talking about the ship, I put my face in my hands and got teary-eyed.  I couldn’t believe the ship had broken!  When my parents turned the computer to show it to me, it didn’t even look like a ship anymore!  I was beyond disappointed in myself and upset that I didn’t package it better, but my dad just kept looking at me saying “Don’t worry, I’ll put it back together, don’t worry.”  But part of me thought…there’s no way it could be restored to the way it was, especially with its intricate sterling silver pieces.  Now, it’s not that I didn’t have faith in my dad, I was just so upset and didn’t know how ANYONE could fix it.  So after our conversation, I tried to fall asleep still feeling very sad that I didn’t pack the ship better, and that I didn’t protect it from falling apart.

The next morning, I called my mom when I woke up to say good night to her and she asked, “Did you see dad’s email?”  I quickly replied, “No, why?”  Then my mom answered, “Well, just check it this morning when you get a chance.”  So I got ready for work and before I left, jumped online to check my emails and clicked on the one from my dad.  It was titled, “The Ship is Better Than Humpty Dumpty” and attached was a picture of his ship COMPLETELY RESTORED and back to its former glory!  Unbelievable!  My dad did it and in ONE DAY!  It looked amazing!  I called him immediately and he started to explain how he had gone to the hardware store to buy the things he needed and spent the entire day on FATHER’S DAY putting the ship back together.  I told him how bad I felt that he spent his special day doing work and this was supposed to be a gift.  But to my dad it didn’t matter.  He just said, “I love the ship and it was so thoughtful of you, but what meant the most to me was seeing you on Skype today.”  So again, I got teary-eyed.  What an amazing dad I have.

So the lesson of this story is – DON’T FORGET TO PACKAGE YOUR FRAGILE ITEMS WELL!  Not everyone can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  Here are some pointers I found on EBAY for the next time you need to pack something fragile…

1.)  WRAP EACH and EVERY ITEM in AMPLE BUBBLEWRAP and SECURE with TAPE – not TOO much tape.

2.)  VASES and BOWLS and other VESSELS should be FILLED with TISSUE PAPER before COVERING with AMPLE BUBBLEWRAP.

3.)  USE a STRONG BOX (LARGE ENOUGH – FAR larger than the item) with THICK WALLS. (This was my biggest mistake!)

4.)  ADD at LEAST 2 to 3 INCHES of PACKING MATERIAL (PEANUTS) on the BOTTOM of the BOX (This one too!)

5.)  CAREFULLY PLACE ANY ITEM or ITEMS upon the PACKING MATERIAL so THERE are at LEAST 2 to 3 INCHES of PACKING MATERIAL BETWEEN/AROUND EVERYTHING – INCLUDING the SIDES of the BOX  (and this one!)

6.)  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE LOTS and LOTS of PACKING MATERIAL – VERY TIGHTLY PACKED ALL AROUND so THE ITEM/S cannot MOVE AT ALL in the BOX – WHEN YOU SHAKE the BOX – YOU SHOULD NOT HEAR ANY MOVEMENT

7.)  SECURELY TAPE the BOX

IF YOU PACK PROPERLY and CAREFULLY – THEN YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY HOW ANY BOXES ARE TREATED – THEY WILL SURVIVE ALMOST ANYTHING.  ANOTHER GREAT WAY TO PACK SOMETHING FRAGILE is to DOUBLE BOX IT – USING the GUIDELINES ABOVE.  For more tips, you can visit this website as well.

The SHIP BEFORE

The SHIP AFTER my dad fixed it!

Lastly, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite songs…I listen to this song to relax me and cheer me up on bad days.  It’s so soothing!  Plus now, it reminds me of my dad and his ships and our special Father’s Day putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY2kCJYL1vQ&feature=related