The Rivers Star

The Rivers Star 

In three weeks I'll be headed for Texas; the original birthplace of my father. I miss being there on the date of his death. I'm usually there to place flowers on his grave. I'll soon make up for that as I celebrate his life on this journey and carry the one thing that meant a lot to him which was passed down to me. A little tiny star that he once received as a gift. This star he wore proudly on his chest. Sometimes it represented his ego as he shined in a world he'd create around him during the late seventies in Houston, Texas. I'd watch that star dangle from his neck and lie against his chest. During that time, open collars were the rage and you could wear your shirt practically unbuttoned to the navel and be perceived as super cool.. My father did that all the time along with wearing his bell bottom jeans. Or sometimes he'd wear a pinstripe suit and still have the shirt opened wide enough to expose his chest and that star. Funny thing, I would later buy the same exact four button suit for myself many years later but I never wore it. Financially that wasn't a good move but it felt great to have the suit in my closet.

Back in the day, my father would tell me proudly that one day that star he wore so proudly would be mine. I only smiled at the gesture and though I looked forward to one day possessing that beautiful piece of jewelry, I wanted to wait at least eighty or ninety years before it happened because the trade off would mean that he'd no longer be alive... I now have the star. I wore it for a longtime but now I just keep it locked away. I wore it during one of my annual trips to Texas as seen in the picture above but after that I tucked it away. I now travel with the memory of it's meaning and a little bit of that Rivers ego as I find my own identity with jewelry that represents me. The Rivers Star is now deep within my heart and as I prepare to ride beneath the stars in the sky, I'll be saying some prayers and sending shoutouts to my dad. I know he and my grand parents will be lookin and watching me once again on hopefully another cool journey..