Chapter 1
For years, my mother had kept a large suitcase hidden beneath her bed. Dust had settled thickly over its surface, yet I had never known what was inside. She always kept it locked and never allowed me to touch it.
Summer had arrived in Bavaria, Germany. That day, I was busy packing my belongings because I was about to move to Berlin. I would be living with my uncle on my mother’s side while starting my new job there.
My mother came into my room to help me pack my clothes and the rest of my belongings. Once everything was ready, my friend and I carried the suitcases and boxes out to my uncle’s car.
A few minutes later, Mother returned to her room. When she came back, she was carrying the large suitcase I had seen countless times before. My curiosity grew stronger. I had always wondered what was inside and who it had once belonged to.
“Otto, come here,” she called softly.
I walked over to her.
“Yes, Mom?”
She stared at the suitcase for a long moment before turning her eyes toward me. Although her face remained calm, there was something hidden in her gaze that I couldn’t understand. She gripped the suitcase tightly as tears slowly filled her eyes.
“Otto… this suitcase belonged to your father.”
She took a shaky breath.
“Your father passed away during the war a year ago.”
The moment I heard those words, my body froze.
My fingers slowly loosened their grip on the suitcase. My lips trembled as I struggled to speak.
“Why… why are you only telling me this now?”
Mother lowered her head. The tears she had been holding back finally streamed down her cheeks.
“Every time I wanted to tell you, you would ask me when your father was coming home. I… I couldn’t bear to take away your hope.”
After hearing her explanation, I took a deep breath. My hands were still trembling as I slowly unlocked the old suitcase.
The scent of aged leather and fabric that had been stored away for years filled the air.
The first thing I saw was my father’s military cap.
Its color had faded over time, but I recognized it immediately. When I was little, I often borrowed it whenever we played soldiers together in the yard.
Beneath it lay several old family photographs.
There was a picture of the three of us smiling in front of our house, another of Father with his fellow soldiers, and one of me as a baby, safely cradled in his arms.
My hand stopped over an old envelope.
In the upper-right corner was my name, written in the familiar handwriting I knew so well.
For Otto.
My vision blurred with tears.
I carefully unfolded the letter inside. The paper had yellowed with age, but Father’s handwriting was still perfectly clear.
For Otto,
If one day you read this letter, I may no longer be by your side.
Don’t hate the world just because we had to part.
Take good care of your mother, and grow into a kind and honorable man.
If you ever see this cap again, don’t remember the war that separated us.
Instead, remember the days when we laughed together in our yard.
I will always be proud to be your father.
—Dad
A few drops of my tears fell onto the weathered paper.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms tightly around Mother.
She embraced me back, gently stroking my back.
“Otto… please take good care of your father’s suitcase,” she whispered with a trembling voice as tears rolled down her cheeks once again.
I nodded quietly.
“I will, Mom. But… I have to leave now.”
Slowly, I let go of her embrace. Carrying Father’s suitcase with me, I walked toward my uncle’s car waiting outside.
Before getting in, I placed Father’s military cap on my head.
I turned around one last time and looked back at the house.
“Goodbye, Mom!”
She waved at me with a smile she tried so hard to keep.
“Take care, my son.”
The car slowly pulled away from the front yard.
Through the window, I watched Mother grow smaller and smaller in the distance.
I held the brim of Father’s cap as I gazed up at the Bavarian sky.
Father was gone.
But as long as the memories of him lived on in my heart, he would always walk beside me, every step of the way.
