My 9-year-old grandson carried the same green backpack everywhere all summer. Then I found something hidden beneath his mattress.
My son Adam and his wife Tara had left their children, Ben and Sophie, with me while their house was being renovated.
For two months, Ben never let that little green backpack out of his sight.
When his parents came to pick them up, I noticed Ben glance nervously toward the guest-room window.
Later, after they left, I went upstairs to change the sheets.
When I lifted Ben’s mattress, something scraped against the bed frame.
I reached into the gap and pulled out a cold, heavy brass key with a red tag attached.
There was also a folded note in Ben’s handwriting.
The first line made my heart stop:
“Ben, this key is yours.”
I kept reading.
And what I discovered made me realize the backpack had never been about toys.