Things of 'value'

As I was growing up, my parents would say that they were glad that they didn't have money/expensive items to leave to my siblings and me when they died.  I told them that it wasn't money that we wanted, it was sentimental things.

When I was about 7-8 years old and was sick one day, I remember my mom letting me play with her pink jewelry box and the contents.  Now before you say that you can't believe she let me play with anything expensive, let me assure you that wasn't the case.  The very few items that she had that were worth any money, were kept in her top dresser drawer in a box.  This pink jewelry box was made out of hard cardboard and contained trinkets that I am sure she got for her birthday, Mother's Day and Christmas from stores like K-Mart, Woolco and the dime store in downtown Belmont.  She had 2 small crown pins that she wore on her brown winter coat lapel.  Every year.  Without fail.  In later years I asked for the pins only to be told 'no' since my sister wanted them also. 

One Christmas about 12 or 13 years ago as we sat opening gifts, I unwrapped my gift from my mom.  Inside was the pink jewelry box with the crown pins.  As I looked up expecting my sister to say 'that's not fair, I wanted those', my sister instead said 'I got the bracelet'.  (Something she had asked for before and had been told 'no'.)  I was glad that my mom gave us those things before she passed away so that she could see how happy they made us. 

Before Eric's dad passed away 2 years ago, he told Eric that he wanted his sister-Eric's aunt-to have a certain afghan that Eric's mom had made.  Eric told him to give it to her then while his dad was still alive, so that he could see how happy she was to receive it. 

As we started cleaning out my in-law's house last year, we would take pictures of anything that we thought the 4 grandchildren would want.  I would send out a blanket email and picture and they would tell me yes or no if they wanted something.  If no one did, then we donated it or sold it.  One of the things that all of the grandkids said was, 'I remember the glass canisters that sat on the refrigerator with the cereal in them'.  Always Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini Wheats and something else.  And I am sure that as they reminisced, they were taken back to the nights they spent with their grandparents and had cereal out of those canisters. 

If you think that you don't have anything of value to give to someone, you might be mistaken.  What one person values is different from what someone else does.  And if you think it would make them happy, consider giving it to them now.

And the glass containers?  We had enough to give everybody one.  We don't know what they are being used for.  It could be for cotton balls, tea bags, nuts and bolts or just sitting on a shelf in the garage.  But we hope that when the grandkids see them, they are taken back to their childhood and the Saturday mornings sitting at Nanny and Paw-Paw's kitchen table.