Heirlooms

For the last couple days the hunk and I have been emptying the kitchen cabinets and packing the stuff in there as tomorrow our maintenance guys are going to replace all our cabinets. It's a job.

As I'm going through the stuff in the cabinets it strikes me that most of it has gone unused since we moved to Baltimore. We have no family within hours. And usually we go to them for holidays--not the other way around so the "special" dishes and glasses and platters I've accumulated over the years--well, they're not getting much use, are they?

Perhaps it's time to pass them one. There are two sets of Christmas glasses. Three special platters. Candy jars for Christmas AND Thanksgiving. Some of my kids decorate for the holidays because they have children. The hunk and I don't generally set out a lot of stuff.

What comprises an heirloom? Is my treasure their trash? The glasses in the picture were given to me by my mother in my hope chest. Someday, I'll pass them on. But I wonder if they'll have any value to my children or grandchildren?

I have a small glass chicken that my grandmother once used in her kitchen to hold sponges and scrubbies on the sink. It sits in my office as a reminder of my grandparents--one of the very few items I have that belonged to them. It's monetary value is probably zero. But it has sentimental value to me because they used it on a daily basis.

So what makes something an heirloom? What things do you keep or plan to pass on to your children?

anny