Week 8 - Heirloom - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

I'm really enjoying the #52ancestors challenge, and the Week 8 prompt Heirloom has sent me into my old oak sideboard (inherited from my mother, who inherited it from her mother), looking at the assortment of porcelain and glassware I have inherited from my parents, grandparents, etc..  While trying to decide which particular item I wanted to write about, I got to thinking about who would inherit these things after I am gone, and whether they will treasure them as I do, or even know their stories.  It has got me thinking (which, really, is what this challenge is all about).

I have no children to inherit when I am gone.  Neither does my sister.  Our branch of the family ends with us - so what will happen to all our 'stuff'?  Will it be passed on to people who will value it, or will it be tossed in the tip or sent to the second-hand shops, dismissed as junk?  There are a few things I have written a history of for my cousins, but most things they will have no idea about, much as my sister and I did when our parents passed away.

While we were sorting through the contents of our family home, we were constantly turning to each other and asking "Do you know what this is?  How long did our parents have it?  It is an heirloom or did Mum buy if from a mail order catalogue a few months ago?"  The answer, all too frequently, was "I don't know.  I don't remember seeing it before."  Many things were clearly not old or valuable and went straight into the 'donate' or 'tip' piles.  Other things prompted excited exclamations, a few tears and long stories, as we recognised old treasures not seen for years.  In the end, however, we had to make judgement calls on a lot of things - we couldn't keep it all, and generally if we didn't know the story or history behind something, we simply threw it out.

Even for those of you out there who do have children and grandchildren to inherit when you are gone, do they know the stories behind your treasures, and will they value them enough to keep them and pass them on to the next generation?  Or will they decide they don't want to fill their homes with 'old stuff', maybe pick one or two items they remember from their childhoods and toss the rest, and dump the things they do keep in the garage or shed or attic or basement, and forget to pass the stories and history on to their children in turn?  I know a number of people for whom this is a problem.  Sadly, I don't have an answer.

So after looking through my sideboard and cabinet, I think I'll make a start by taking photos of several inherited items and making notes on that they are, where they came from, why I've kept them and what I would like to happen to them when I'm gone.  And I will hope the stories, and the items themselves, will survive for generations to come and not be lost forever.