Richard Morgan’s mom gave him these pliers about 50 years ago. (Photo by Richard Morgan)

BY RICHARD MORGAN

We recently tore down our old, falling down, dilapidated, full-of-holes garage and replaced it with a new one. While I hired most of the construction parts out, I am doing the wiring myself. I’m not a professional, but for the most part I do pretty well. Yes, I’ve done this before, and yes, I am getting lots of advice from a retired electrician friend, (Thanks Mike!) and yes, I’m getting it inspected. So it will work out OK.

But there are some things I just have trouble with. One of those things is running the wire around a corner in the structure.

Just a few days ago, I ran into this. I had the holes drilled and had inserted the wire in the hole along one wall. The trouble was, I couldn’t get it out the other side. I could see the wire, but it was about 2 inches behind a ¾-inch hole. So while I could see it, I couldn’t grab it. No kind of pliers I had could reach in there. I started thinking that what I needed was very long, thin, needle-nose pliers.

And then I remembered. I did have one, if I could find it. So I started looking, and it was in my tool chest, in a drawer I had labeled “squeezy things.”

And it was perfect. I took it to that corner, and in just a few seconds, I had used my long pliers to grab the wire and pull it through. Success!

No big deal, right? Except for the story behind those pliers.

Mom was always excited about Christmas. When I was little, she had to buy for my dad, and all four kids, not counting friends and extended family, of course. As time went on, it became Dad, the kids, and the spouses. Then it was Dad, the kids, the spouses ,and the grandkids. Eventually that included great-grandkids. And Mom had trouble with that many. So she started to go with “theme gifts.” Adult men would get one kind of gift, adult women another, grandsons another, and granddaughters yet another. It wasn’t always perfect, but it worked pretty well.

But just before she went to “theme gifts,” she was still trying to individualize things. That’s tough for a Mom when her kids lived far away, and she didn’t really know what they needed. So sometimes she had to guess.

And one of those gifts that she “guessed” at was those long pliers I just used in my garage. I’m guessing they came from a Christmas about 50 years ago, and I remember Mom saying that she didn’t know if I could use them or not. Almost apologetically.

And to be honest, I rarely use them. But when I do need them, there is just nothing else that will work. I remember my friend Mitch coveting that set of pliers. But I didn’t let him have them. And I’m glad I didn’t.

Because on those rare times I use them, not only are they the perfect tool, but they also remind me of Mom and how she tried so hard to make Christmas special for her loved ones. She didn’t know anything about tools, but she did her best that year, and bought me something that I’ve used for over 50 years. And I guarantee that when I die, they’ll still be with my tools. And while I won’t be around to care, I hope they don’t just go in a big pile at an auction, as most of my tools will. I really hope that one of my kids snatches them up, and they will have that tool for the rest of their lives to remind them of their grandma.

Yes, it’s just a pair of pliers. But they’re with me forever. And I love when I use them. Because Mom gave them to me. So when I use those pliers, it’s like Mom is with me. And I like that.