Heirlooms Are Just Your Ancestors Junk?

Day 17, Post 17

What is the oldest thing you own? I have several books that are quite old. Printed in the 1800's. I may even have a few older than that.

That is one way to answer. But another would be something you have had forever. For example, I have a book that I got when I was very young called "The Monster At The End Of This Book." It is so old the cover is coming off. I have the entire book memorized.

Or it could be something that is old and an heirloom because its been in the family. I have my mother's class ring. Not quite an heirloom yet but perhaps when I pass it down to my daughter it will be.

Stuff is funny isn't it? We have stuff that is precious to us for about a week and then we wonder what we saw in that item. Then we have other items that we would be devastated to lose because Great Great Great Great Great Aunt Betsy owned it. Well who knows, perhaps Great Great Great Great Great Aunt Betsy kept meaning to get rid of that because it was just more stuff in her house. Or perhaps she loved it and cherished it and that's why she passed it down.

Every item has a story to tell. Whether it be that she hated that vase and couldn't ever get rid of it because her mother in law gave it to her for a wedding present. Or that the vase was her first anniversary gift from her husband and it was her favorite because they had so little money and he scraped a few pennies together to buy it. Or simply, it was just a vase she liked, but she always had fresh flowers in it and the vase reminds you of her (well...not if she is your great great great great great aunt, but you know what I mean).

So tell me about some of your old items. Tell me their stories. If you are the first in your family to own it, why do you keep it? If you are the 12th generation what do you know about it?