We were talking about this on an email loop a few weeks ago. How some people just don’t care about items that have been in their family for a long time. I don’t get that. I don’t have many things that belonged to other family members. I used to have a toolbox thingy that held screws, nuts, and bolts, that had belonged to my paternal grandfather, but I don’t know what happened to it. You can still buy the same thing at Home Depot today, but this one belonged to my grandpa, so I’m angry that it disappeared.
I had a little New Testament that had belonged to my maternal grandmother. It was stolen when our house was broken into 12 years ago, because I kept it in my jewelry box with my junky costume jewelry that some loser just had to have. Losing these things bothers me because my grandparents are no longer alive and that was a piece of them that I could hold on to.
I still have lots of things. Have you seen the pictures? I have lots and lots of things. I have dolls that my paternal grandmother made for me when I was little. (Strawberry Shortcake was awesome.) I have afghans that my mom knitted and my grandma crocheted. Some are from my childhood and some were made for my children. We have an afghan that my paternal grandmother crocheted long before my son was born, that was meant for her first great-grandchild. There are four grandkids older than me, and I was 26 when Jeffrey was born. I suppose that poor afghan sat in a closet for a while waiting for a baby to come along.
I also have a dresser that’s nothing special on its own, but I keep hauling it around the country, and from house to house, because my dad and I stripped it and refinished it when I was little. I don’t actually remember doing it; I just know we did. Although, if I was young enough that I can’t remember it, I can’t imagine I was very much help during the process.
And that’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure there is more stuff hanging around that means something. I’m making sure that I instill the same respect for heritage in my boys that was taught to me.
They can take care of the stuff or I will come back and haunt them.