Father's Handkerchief

"Das Taschentuch meines Vaters, mein 'Unti' - ich habe es noch. Es stammt aus Militaerbestaenden, Soldaten im zweiten Weltkrieg. Ohne mein 'Unti', das ich immer um den Daumen gewickelt habe und an dem es sich so schoen schnueffeln liess, wollte ich nicht ins Bett (1 - 6 Jahre alt)."
(from my correspondence, Germany)

"I've got some of my father's handkerchiefs and I'd be very sad if I lost them, but that's because of the spiritual connection with your family... I just have them, they are not particularly old, I might even use them occasionally, but then in this day and age, they are not seen to be very sanitary... now I just carry them around, I suppose symbolic of my dad, because he never left the house without two handkerchiefs. And in times of crisis, he always had a handkerchief, not for himself, because he was not very emotive in public life, but I can remember occasions when I felt a bit and he gave me one of his hankies. And that's how I acquired them, so they are very significant. They don't really exist nowadays and you wonder how many emotions have been contained in handkerchiefs, and states of health, sneezing, coughing, crying, all sorts of thing."
(from my correspondence, UK)