Passing Things Down

This country person likes "hand me downs" even if it is a vase or dish from a grandparent or elderly relative or neighbor.  These days I am seeing my children passing things down to their grown children who are starting out their "on my own" lives.  

It tickled me when my daughter called to say that Gwyn, her grown daughter was moving from the apartment with two other people to one with her soon to be husband.  They need things and Leslie decided to give them her kitchen table and four chairs.  She has had it since Gwyn, now 23, was 3 years old.  I recall the day that Leslie and I went to the furniture store and purchased it as she was moving to her own place after a divorce from the children's dad.  They lived with us for about six months during that time.  So this table has served many meals to her family of three.  Now it will go to Gwyn's new place and beginning life as a couple.  

My son has a table that I gave them when he started out in a small apartment while in college and working at a church.  His family still has it to this day and he has refinished it.  It is a nice wooden table also.  When I moved from one state to another, my large dining set did not come with me as I knew it would not fit in the place I was moving into.  A distant relative, and friend, gave me this set which she and her husband started married life with.  I enjoyed it for a number of years before getting a different one in order to pass this one on to Brook.  Then he got married and they are still using it with now 28 years of marriage.  

Tables would be interesting to talk to, many stories told around them, games played, and hobbies done.  But the table, as well as other items passed down, make for interesting stories we know about the previous owners or can tell about our life with the item.

As I recall moving across this wonderful country, I recall giving away some items to good friends, and when I would visit, there the item was in their home, cherished .  One friend actually said that whenever she was cleaning house and came across the items in it from me, she would say a quick prayer for me, wherever I was and lived.  That is also a treasure.

So enjoy your items, pass some down to others, and enjoy the memories made.