Mr and Mrs Suitcase

Mr and Mrs Suitcase had been retired for two years now. They should have been enjoying their retirement but the truth of the matter was they hated it. They both knew they had lots of years left in them but they had been forced into retirement. It all began when their owners, Ben and Nanci, brought the "new" couple home. When the Suitcases saw the young couple they knew their days off carrying Ben and Nanci's things were over. The new guys were hip and cool and they weren't even made out of imitation leather or any other fabric for that matter. They were hard and looked PLASTIC???? He and she both had shiny stainless steel wheels on their bottoms and up near their tops they each had a retractable handle that pulled out so that Ben and Nanci had the option of pulling verses carrying. The Suitcases were from a older generation. A generation that could only offer handles and knew nothing about such fancy and modern things. When they were young you were one cool cat if you had a locking mechanism (as they did) and one of those attached tags that allowed you to place a card facing out that had your name and address on it in case your owner got lost and someone could reunite him or her with their luggage (again, and they did). They had been quite in style forty some years ago but today they just looked old and tired. They really had expected the worse when the new kids arrived. They thought they would end up being thrown out with the garbage and even then they would be hopeful that someone who really needed a suitcase would see and take them and spare them the big truck that would come and take them away. Or hopefully their owners would donate them to a thrift store so they could be purchased by someone else and they could still work a few more years. They had even heard their owners discussing that very thing but they couldn't bring themselves to get rid of them. They had been with them for so long and had been to so many places with them that it just didn't seem right to get rid of them. So here they were. Delegated to spend their days and nights towards the back corner of the spare room their owners used for storage. The days were long and boring now but at least they had their memories. Ben and Nanci had lived a adventurous life and they were always on the go it seemed. They had purchased the suitcases not long after their marriage and fortunately, they acquired a taste for travel and leisure vacations soon after. Those early years were wonderful for both couples. Ben and Nanci worked hard and liked to play hard too. They were all young and had their whole lives ahead of them. Mr Suitcase would be packed with Ben's shirts and ties and his toiletries that always included his colognes and aftershaves. Mrs Suitcase carried all of Nanci's stuff. Delicate clothes like silk blouses with revealing V necks and silky lingerie that got wore at night and always plenty of smell good sprays. There were lots of road trips in Ben and Nanci's old station wagon. The suitcases would get packed and stowed in the back of that old wagon and over the years they had traveled on about every major highway in the USA. With the big side and rear windows Mr and Mrs Suitcase had the perfect view of the surrounding countryside. They had traveled the fabled Route 66 back when the old 66 started in their owners hometown of Chicago and ended in Santa Monica. That had been a three week jaunt across the country with many memorable overnight stays in each state. Who could forget the night the big storm blew in while they were staying at the Sleepy Texan in Amarillo and hail the size of golf balls fell from the sky and the power was knocked out right up until they left the next day. It must have been 140 degrees in that room during the night and they would have just packed up and left if they weren't so afraid of getting struck by lightening while in the process of doing it. The old wagon had suffered a cracked windshield and a couple nice sized dents on the roof that served as a reminder over the years of that storm. Then there was the trip down the Old Scenic Route 100 through the heart of Vermont during the fall and everyone was stunned at the beauty of the trees and their fire red and deep orange colored leafs. In the years that followed there were trips to the lake and visits to family members scattered around the country. There were plenty of good times traveling around in that old wagon. Sadly though, nothing last forever and eventually their owners replaced that old station wagon with a four door sedan that didn't have the big wrap around glass back but instead had a trunk that the Suitcases fit in nicely but was like traveling in a dark room. No more nice view and no more sight seeing. But it really wasn't that bad. They still got to travel with their owners and the dark trunk gave them time to nap, something that they recently had discovered they enjoyed doing. The motel rooms were soon replaced with hotel rooms as their owners and their taste matured. A few years later the the Suitcases flew on their first airplane and even though the Mrs was a little nervous at first they had loved it! They were placed in a huge room with lots of other Suitcases and they all had had a delightful time meeting and talking with all the other Bags. Everyone congratulated them for flying on their first flight and wished them happy flying in the future. When they landed there were last goodbyes and well wishes for everyone all around and then silence as the big cargo bay door opened. Soon after they were thrown on a big cart with all their new found friends and taken inside a big building and one by one thrown onto a big metal moving track that took each one of their friends up and through a hole in the wall of some sort. When Mr and Mrs Suitcase rode up and dropped down out of the hole they were relieved to see all the owners waiting patiently for their bags. After a few turns and curves (the metal moving thingy was quite enjoyable) their owners grabbed them up and whisked them away. They had enjoyed a week in a very posh motel in Acapulco Mexico and the flight back had been just as entertaining. After that the majority of their travels were by plane. Soon they were the ones welcoming the first time flyer's down in the cargo bay. They also got to experience their first cruise several years later and they both had loved it. On that one and the ones that followed their owners always had a room with a balcony and the Suitcases loved looking out over the ocean as the sun set. But after awhile the Suitcases began to notice that the trips and vacations began to slow down some. They were becoming less frequent with more time in between them. They also were getting older and they knew it. Their zippers hurt whenever they were opened or shut. Their sides ached a lot and they both blamed laying on them over all the years with a full bag of stuff pushing down on them. Even their owners seemed to be feeling it. Gone were the sexy nighties and the manly aftershaves and now there were medicines and ointments and vitamins and supplements. They both missed the good old days when they were young and they could carry a full load of things and their zippers could be opened and closed a hundred times a day and they never had a ache or pain. Days spent in the back of that old wagon. Flights flying here and there and meeting other luggage from all over the world. The cruises that sailed over the blue Atlantic and down and around all the Caribbean islands. Deep down, the two of them knew their days of service were coming to a end. Even their colors, once bright and vibrant, were fading and now looked old and dull. Still though, they had been with their owners through all the good times and bad times. Packed and taken to family events like weddings or graduations or babies coming into the world. They had also rode with them in times of sorrows like funerals or sudden unexpected deaths. They had been through thick and thin together. That's why it was so shocking the day their owners brought home their brand new replacements. The misses had cried for days. Mr Suitcase tried to put up a good front for her, their owners won't like them, they can't carry a full load like they could, they were to cold and impersonal, etc, etc. But deep down he knew their time had come. They were going to spend their last years here in this room with all the other things their owners didn't have much use for anymore. But, they still had each other and they had their memories of all their past adventures. And every now and then Ben would come in looking for something in that room full of stuff. And whenever he got close to the the couple he would reach out and rub his hand over both of them and their handles and a small smile would start to form on his lips. Ben, like them, remembered too.