The Red Suitcase

Harlan and I were old enough to remember hard-sided Samsonite suitcases from before rolling wheels and extendable handles.

Harlan and I were old enough to remember hard-sided Samsonite suitcases from before rolling wheels and extendable…

Back then, if you packed it, you carried it.

In an earlier #HarlansLegacy post, we wrote about the small travel case that once held our comic books. Over the past 387 weeks, we have also written many times about Harlan’s travels.

He went to trade shows and industry conventions. He traveled to support his team and to receive crystal plaques, awards, and recognition for their advanced digital artistry.

This week’s photograph is of another part of that story: Harlan’s red SwissGear suitcase.

It traveled with him to Curaçao, Ibiza, Amsterdam, and many other places along the way.

When that dreadful day came and I had to pack one suitcase with some of Harlan’s possessions, this was the suitcase I chose.

For most of the past seven years, I continued using it during my own road-warrior travels.

It carried my clothes from state to state, but it also carried something much more important.

It carried memories.

In those early days, it helped stabilize my mental state. It comforted me during my state of denial. It stayed beside me through the different states of grief—and then followed me into the next state.

It was something familiar from Harlan’s life that I could still take with me.

His luggage tag is still attached.

It has an address that has long been vacant, a telephone number that has been disconnected, and an email account that is no longer active.

But it still has Harlan’s name.

Eventually, however, the suitcase began showing its age. The miles had taken their toll, and it was no longer suitable for the road.

As I write this week’s Shabbat Shalom post from the great state of Wisconsin, Harlan’s red suitcase did not make the trip.

Its traveling days are now over.

It is now safely at home, filled with family heirlooms, keepsakes, and pieces of Harlan’s legacy—zipped tightly and secured for posterity.

That brings us to this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, which means “See.”

It asks us to do more than simply look at what is in front of us. It asks us to recognize what something truly represents.

Someone else may look at this photograph and see an old, worn red suitcase.

I see the places Harlan traveled.

I see the work he was proud of and the people whose accomplishments he celebrated.

I see the terrible day when I packed some of his possessions inside it.

Each week, we open another part of our family’s story. We remember Harlan, our mom and dad, their parents, and the generations who came before them.

This week, we zip one small chapter closed.

Farewell to the road, old red suitcase.

You carried Harlan’s belongings around the world.

You carried some of them home.

And when I needed it most, you helped carry me.

Your traveling days may be finished.

Your place in #HarlansLegacy is not.

Shabbat Shalom.