My son put my work badge in his memory box

Dear Delyara, I lost my job after twenty-six years with the same company. My son is twelve. I tried to make the redundancy sound positive because I did not want him worrying about money. Tonight, I found my old employee badge inside his memory box beside baby teeth, baseball tickets, and a friendship bracelet. I asked why he put it there. He said, “Because that was your work one.” Past tense. I told him I might need it if the company asks for it back. He said they already took my job, so they should not get the card too. I laughed, then had to leave the room. For twenty-six years, that badge irritated me. Forgetting it meant driving home. It hung from my neck through thousands of ordinary days. I did not know my child saw it as part of me. He remembers meeting me after work and watching the badge swing when I bent down to hug him. I have spent weeks feeling ashamed that I no longer have a title to give when people ask what I do. My son quietly archived the thing that told him where his father went every morning and treated it like family history.