Our precious keepsakes

As a young child I always coveted my mother's china & silverware. Now it's mine and the silverware is rusting away in it's wooden case in a drawer and the china is Never used. I should use it as ordinary day ware but haven't gotten around to washing it yet
 

We are almost minimalists, but not quite. We love the fact that we have no basement to worry about, there's nothing in the attic but some window screens, and our garage has a closet with all our tools so that when our cars are out it looks empty.

However. I still like beautiful rooms and our living room has crystal on every shelf of the entertainment cabinet and we have my father's original paintings on the walls.

Our closets are only about one quarter full, because we don't have many clothes and I like nothing better than going through everything and purging anything I haven't used in the last year.

However. I love beautiful, delicate china and have some that my grandmother got as a wedding present in 1880. I've started simply using all that china and if breaks, well, so what? So there we are me, my husband and grown son, sitting down to hot dogs and corn on the cob served on priceless antique china nobody wants.

As for jewelry, Humph. I've been married twice and neither man thought to get me an engagement ring!
 
When one has company, who wants to hand wash the fine china and silverware? Not me.

I saw a interesting redo of a beautiful wooden buffet/china cabinet. The stylist painted the back interior white and pared down the items to half the amount. It changed it from old-fashioned to fashionable.

BTW, if anyone wants my china cabinet & dining set, they’re welcome to them. They were my husbands. “if it was in fashion then, it’s still is.” 😱. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to buy quality.
 

Today's generation lives in a "disposable" world. They are too busy with digital media to bother with the things we kept... or thought important to keep.

Photos... There are no photos, today. Everything is digital and may or may not be kept on a thumb drive or in the "cloud". No photo albums. No family pictures. Any that we have will, probably, be tossed as they will have no interest to our kids or grandkids.

Letters... No one writes letter, today. Letters from grandparents, etc. just don't happen. Again, texts or emails have taken the place of written letters. My wife ended up with letters sent home from WWII by an uncle. He was killed in Germany 7 days before the Germans surrendered. Those letters talk of how he is so looking forward to coming home to hunting and fishing. They tell the stories of bullet holes in the bottom of their plane. When our son was deployed in Iraq, etc. he communicated via cell phone or email. No letters.

Checks... My wife's parents kept every check they had written from the time of their marriage until their deaths. She had three big boxes of cancelled checks. Finally went through those and kept the ones that were of some memory value. First furniture. First grade shoes for kids. Each had a something written in the 'memo'. She sent those pertinent to her siblings to them. Kept the ones that were pertinent to her. No one writes checks, today. A piece of your parents' history lost.

China, collectibles, etc... We have a collection of large Santas. Many are Artist Proofs that sold for quite a bit when we acquired them. They will probably go on a garage sale when we pass. Aren't worth a third of what the were 20 years ago. Silverware from our parents and that we purchased shortly after marriage. Needs sold for the silver value since no one will enjoy getting out the "good silver" for a Sunday dinner.

Furniture... Our dining table and buffet were my grandparents. Probably date to the 1930's. Perfect condition. Our living room couch was my Dad's. Got it when he moved to a nursing home in the 90's. So much GOOD furniture... well built... that has served us well and has come from parents, grandparents, etc. Nice china cabinet, some antique chairs that came from an auction of a son-in-law's parents. Our kids have all done really well for themselves. All on first marriages. Both girls have been married 25+ years. So, they have accumulated homes full of furniture. Ours will end up donated to some charity organization or sold in an estate sale.

It's a different world, boys and girls!!!
 
And yet, some surprising things turn out to be a little bit valuable to the younger generation. One example is my collection of vinyl records. I still have my turntable, and have kept a few dozen of my favorite records. I hardly ever play them. In fact, I hardly ever play the CD's any more! It's much easier to say, "Alexa, play some songs by Neil Diamond," for instance.

But some of my grandchildren have gleefully taken some of the vinyl records when I offered them. Why in the world they are valuable to them, I cannot fathom. But I'm glad to see them staying in the family, more or less.
 
I sold much of my good jewelry on eBay. I do not have anyone to leave my things to and at the time I needed the money. I sold old pictures too and that included vacation pictures that most people never look at again. You would not believe all the things that people will pay for. I sold my stuffed Siamese cats for $100. each! I did not know they would sell for that much as they were all gifts to me from others. I took apart small appliances and sold them part by part.
 
I'd never throw away photos of anything. I love looking at old photos of relatives and photos of strangers of long ago, or present. People of any race or life style. One disappointment might be if nothing had been written and told about them, on the back of their pictures.

There are life style history book writers who could pick and choose any that may fit just right as an example to view of the subject they are writing about.

I've never had "things" of much value and that is now a relief, there is nothing here my children would be interested in fighting over when I die.....lol
I look at homes (on T V) that are nicely decorated up to the hilt & I then picture all the work that will be required to pack it all up, when the owners move, or die.
 
I have to say I don't have most of the things you're all talking about, china, glassware etc my 'ornaments' are all large and modern and pretty valueless really .. my only concern will be that my daughter will take my photos including those of her ancestors , but she's not interested even tho' they're all on an External Hard-drive.

However I came across this sweet 3minute video someone found and posted of their old gran...from 2007

To live surrounded by all this would be my own personal nightmare...:eek:

 
hollydolly said:
I have to say I don't have most of the things you're all talking about, china, glassware etc my 'ornaments' are all large and modern and pretty valueless really .. my only concern will be that my daughter will take my photos including those of her ancestors , but she's not interested even tho' they're all on an External Hard-drive.

However I came across this sweet 3minute video someone found and posted of their old gran...from 2007

To live surrounded by all this would be my own personal nightmare...:eek:

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I wonder what the woman's story is for her having collected all those items. Comfort, company? Her black & white dog sure is well behaved.....lol
 
@hollydolly I agree that all that stuff in the video would give me nightmares as well but the lady seems to get enjoyment out of having those things.
I have been in homes with collections like that and the dust is up to the top of the collectables.
Sometimes people don't even know where the items came from.
If I can't keep my collectables clean and displayed nicely then they are vacating the premises.
I also have the problem with my photos. Both my kids don't seem to be interested. Luckily my son in law has shown an interest. He asked me to make sure they are all labeled which I did.
As I was going through them I got rid of many pictures of zoo animals etc. Also unlabeled scenery and many doubles. It seems my mom and grandma wanted the same photos and I have both sets of albums. It got a bit complicated remembering if I had seen that photo in another album.
 
The photos: It might be that it will not happen until a third generation later becomes curious about, and enjoys looking at the photos of the past. Excited to discover them. Photos on paper well cared for to make sure they won't have to depend on some electronic device to view them.
 
hollydolly said:
I have to say I don't have most of the things you're all talking about, china, glassware etc my 'ornaments' are all large and modern and pretty valueless really .. my only concern will be that my daughter will take my photos including those of her ancestors , but she's not interested even tho' they're all on an External Hard-drive.

However I came across this sweet 3minute video someone found and posted of their old gran...from 2007

To live surrounded by all this would be my own personal nightmare...:eek:

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I found this quite sad and depressing. I hope I don't have much accumulated when I leave this world. I have been giving away many items in the past few years.

I am very sentimental and don't want my wedding rings given to just anybody. I have to get serious and think about my special pieces of jewelry (not many, but the few I have are very precious).... and whom will they be left to.
 
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I wasn't interested in family keepsakes until I found out how valuable some of them were after they were gone. My kids are the same way. By chance and the grace of God, we were contacted by someone who'd found a old huge, ornate family bible that seemed to go back many generations and wondered if the person was anyone in our family. Turned out it was my great, great grandfather's bible. After we're gone, I am thinking it will get lost again.
 
StarSong said:
My grandmother used to say that after a while you don't own your stuff, your stuff owns you.
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I'm fascinated by the show, "Hoarders" and that's pretty much the message. They are people whose stuff got way out of hand and they are now owned by it. They can't bring themselves to part with anything, so now they can't walk safely through their house and the fire risk is a constant threat.
 
Della said:
I'm fascinated by the show, "Hoarders" and that's pretty much the message. They are people whose stuff got way out of hand and they are now owned by it. They can't bring themselves to part with anything, so now they can't walk safely through their house and the fire risk is a constant threat.
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lol...that show actually gives me palpitations... I can't watch it... :D
 
debodun said:
I am slowly trying to liquidate the contents of my house so as to make it easier for my executor who will likely rent a dumpster and put everything in it. He is not one to fool around with trifles. At least when I sell it, it will likely go to someone who appreciates it more.
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Yes, that was my thoughts exactly! If people really want an item and are willing to pay for it then it most likely will not go into a dumpster.
 
asp3 said:
It may also be part of a change in the way people get together these days. I see very few younger people have dinner parties and fancy celebrations in their homes. They often go out for celebrations or meet other places for dinner. Having friends and family over for meals and celebrations was more the norm in the past.
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I've always thought that too, but when I watch House Hunters on tv the buyers are always saying how much they "love to entertain" and "need entertaining space". The only entertaining I see anymore is just small family get-togethers for a birthday or holiday. Frankly, I don't even know enough people to throw a party. Kinda sad I guess...
 
hollydolly said:
However I came across this sweet 3minute video someone found and posted of their old gran...from 2007

To live surrounded by all this would be my own personal nightmare...:eek:

Click to expand...
Living with them would be a nightmare - having to dust all of that would be my worst hell. As soon as you finished, it would be time to start over.

It would be very stressful to live with that much clutter.
 

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