Family treasures, old junk and the box it came in

 

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I was visiting with some people the other day who were talking about the items they had stored in their attic and in their cupboards. They were so excited about the possible value of their keepsakes. They mentioned that they remembered most of the treasures being items that had belonged to various family members. They talked about how the cookie jar had always been on the counter, filled w/ chocolate chip cookies that were passed out after school. They laughed when they told me the story of the pink depression Mom always used for their ice cream. They shared the joy they had when their uncle allowed them to play with his childhood cast iron bank,  with pride they mentioned the uniform of Grandpa from the Spanish American War.

They had put all these treasures away so they would be "safe" for future generations.

But... they then went on to say that none of their children wanted any of the items that had meant so much to them.

When you have a special item and keep it in a box - you have a box. Your kids don't have a connection to the items, they have no tangible memories connected to them. They only remember not being allowed to touch them, not allowed to use them, not permitted to move them without being sternly warned "don't break them! They are valuable". 

The next generation is connected only to those things that they touched, held, used, saw enjoyed in daily life by family and friends. When we take away this enjoyment we rob them of the connection to their past, we strip them of their family's daily real life history. We take their heritage and family stories and store them away in a box that mildews in the attic and is sold at the next yard sale. How sad.

Let's get these treasures out of the cupboard and use them. Pull out the sterling and eat chicken and salad. Take the china and goblets out of the hutch and enjoy a pepsi and a burger. Hold the teddy bear, hug the doll, write with the fountain pen, sit on the chair (after being sure it is sturdy), smile while you read the book, grin when you listen to the song on your old record player. Take time to introduce your kids to the relatives in all of the photos in the album tucked away in the hope chest. 

And when they decide to get something different  - it all ends up here at the antique shows.

Break open the box and reintroduce the past to our future.