thependulumswings

One of the many gifts that Boom Boom gave us was the torrent of quips about how one leads one’s life.   He could say so much by saying so little.   A statement at just the right moment resonated in my young, eager eardrums.  How I interpreted or applied it was up to me.  No more words were spoken because no more words were needed.

Today U.S. Government Series EE Savings Bonds as an investment are about as popular as Donald J. Trump is in Portland, Oregon as a president.  But way back in the 1960’s and 1970’s they were backed (and still are) by the full faith and credit of the United States and paid about eight percent interest per year.

And way back in the 1960’s and 1970’s Boom Boom brought one home every other week in his briefcase.   I just didn’t know it.  I didn’t know it, that is, until one evening after supper.

In Lesson #4 we shared that on a couple of weeknights each week he finished dinner and headed to our spare bedroom that housed his desk, his adding machine, my mother’s exercise bike, and most of all an undersized pool table.  Yes, it was crowded.  He needed to do some “book work” he always said.  He struck the adding machine keys so quickly that it was not possible to follow.

His one and only son loved playing pool (competition and geometry combined is a tasty combo) and asked for him to”crack em” almost every night that his own homework didn’t get in the way and after his father’s “book work” was completed.

But this particular evening was different.  Boom Boom asked that I help him with his book work.  At the tender age of eight or nine I had no idea what that meant.  I had no idea until he took the bond out of his briefcase and pulled a short stack of them with a rubber band around them out of his top drawer.

“Son, these bonds are going to pay for your college.”  “College?” I stammered.  You see the dollar amount in the corner of each?”  “Yes.”  That will be how much each is worth when they mature.  And almost all mature seven years after you buy them.”  “Mature?” I asked.  “Yes.  I buy them for half of what their face value is.”  “Face value?”  “It’s the dollar amount in the corner.”

“Where do you get them?”  “Don’t worry about that.”  “Let’s add them up together to see how we are doing.”  “Ok, Dad.”

From then on every two weeks we would add another fifty or sometimes even a hundred dollar one to the growing stack and cross out the total to write down the new total.

“Save your money, Son.”  I heard that refrain every two weeks as the rubber band went “whack” around the stack.  “When you need it for something down the road you will be able to afford it without borrowing.  Save your money, Son.“