I'm staring at my dad's raised middle finger right now.

Well, not the one on his hand. He gave me this wooden sculpture of a fist with a raised middle finger when I went off for college. Said he had it during his college years, so I might as well have it too.

My family's first family heirloom!

It's actually pretty cool. It was just the sort of thing a young college undergrad should have in his dorm room. Sure sparked up a lot of interesting conversation.

"What's that? Is that a, ohmigosh!"

"Ha ha! That's cool man! Where did you get that?"

"Oh, that's so cool! Can I touch it?"

And a lot more similar interesting conversation. Imagine that!

As I stare at it right now, I can't help but wonder how my dad got it in the first place. Surely my grandfather didn't give it to him.

My grandfather was a hardworking Chinese immigrant who I really can't see walking up to a souvenir stand in New York City and saying, "Gee, that's a great fist with raised middle finger wooden sculpture! I ought to buy that for my son."

Unless he got it to impress his friends. "What's that you brought there? Is that a, ohmigosh! Ha ha, that's cool man! Can I touch it?"

Using it as a family heirloom is kind of a cool idea. I'm sure my future wife would hate it, that's okay. I don't think my dad ever told my mom that he gave this to me. So I don't have to tell my wife either. Heh.

I'll pass this down to my son when he goes off to college. And he'll pass it down to his son when he goes off to college. And so on.

Just think—with their flying cars and hologram movie theaters, they'll still be able to spark up a lot of interesting conversation with this family heirloom.

"What's that? Is that made of ancient wood? Ohmigosh!"

"Ha ha! That's cool man! When was that made?"

"Oh, that's so cool! Can I touch it?"

. . .

Do you have any family heirlooms?