Monday, July 16, 2018

Treasured Family Heirlooms

by Pam Hillman

What is an heirloom?

Webster’s defines an heirloom as, “Something of special value handed down from one generation to another.”

As I ponder the meaning of heirlooms, I turn to the battered antique trunk at the foot of my bed. Its domed top and shiny brass accents shimmer in the late afternoon sunlight streaming through my bedroom window.

My husband bought the trunk at his great aunt’s estate sale several years ago. It is a beautiful old trunk. Battered, but sturdy, it cradles heirlooms handed down through five generations.

I flip the clasps open and lift the lid, letting the smell of old leather, musty books, and time gone by waft around me. For a moment, my gaze lingers on my treasures, old and new, before I reach for the baby clothes stacked on top.


I pull out dainty smocked suits that my children wore home from the hospital; a pair of tiny, hand crocheted booties; soft white and powdery blue blankets used to wrap my newborn sons in. Memories of those precious days parade through my head as I touch each object. I shake my head as I finger the baby clothes. It is hard to believe either of my young men were ever small enough to wear the tiny garments I hold in my hands.

Underneath a soft baby blanket, I spot a baseball glove, its brittle leather over thirty years old. The glove brings back memories of a brother whose life was cut way to short. Memories of the time he threw a baseball straight up in the air because I had decided I couldn’t miss it if the ball fell on me. I missed—and got a busted nose for my effort. But it really wasn’t my brother’s fault. The whole thing had been my idea.

As I dig deeper, the keepsakes grow older. I pick up a hymnal, dated 1907, a relic inherited from my husband’s great-great aunt. Its care-worn pages are a testimony to the many times Aunt Mary Ann lifted her voice in song. I can just see a dozen or so stout country women dressed in their Sunday best, hats perched just so, sturdy shoes dusty from their trek to church, lifting their voices in song. The song in my head fades away as the hymnal is placed carefully to the side.

In the bottom, I find a quilt. Not just an ordinary quilt—a special quilt—a quilt hand-stitched by my mother’s mother. I’m not sure how old it is. My mother doesn’t know, and Mamaw wouldn’t be able to tell us if she were alive.

I do know that it is old, and worn, the fabric stiff and shiny in places, the binding threadbare, the lining torn. It isn’t beautiful. Its pieces aren’t mirror images of each other, intent on showing off some delicate pattern. It’s a hodgepodge of color, shapes, and sizes. Some pieces of fabric are long and narrow, brown. Others tan, triangular. I spot a few pieces of dull green here and there. But even now, it has a thick sturdiness that guarantees a cozy night’s sleep on a frigid winter night.

As my fingers glide across the surface of the quilt, an image of my mother as a little girl, snuggling under the quilt, flashes like a movie clip before my eyes. As quickly as it appears, it’s gone. I sigh and lean over the edge of the trunk once again.

The afternoon shadows deepen as I examine each and every precious item in the trunk. I marvel at the black velvet pillbox hat with grosgrain ribbon Mamaw wore to church back in the 1940’s. I touch the cool metal of Papaw’s pocket watch, the stiff softness of his brown felt hat. The label inside says Adam, Fifth Avenue Quality, long oval, and I wonder how many hats he tried on, how long he stood in the store, before he picked just the right hat, just the right style, to suit him.

When I’m done, I carefully pack everything away, my trip down memory lane creating more and more memories, expanding, like sweet rolls set out to rise. I gaze out the window, enjoying a quiet afternoon reminiscing.

These heirlooms speak to me somewhere down deep inside. Their value is special, just like Webster declared. I knew the man who wore the hat, the woman who hand-stitched the quilt, and the young girl who grew up to be my mother. I have the memories to prove it.

And that’s what makes an heirloom special.



Do you have a special heirloom handed down from your parents or grandparents? We'd love to hear all about it!!!


CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com





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11 comments:

  1. I have my nana's graduation picture and a chair that she bought for her mobile home when she moved into our yard when I was young. I don't remember if she had the chair before that. I have some recipes that were written in her own hand, which I treasure. Thanks for the trip through your memories. I love your line how the memories expand "like sweet rolls rising"!!!!

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    1. Connie, your nana's graduation picture? What a treasure! And the recipes. Those memories are just as sweet and savory as the rolls, aren't they?

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  2. I love family stories, traditions and heirlooms. My husband and I have several bookcases that my Daddy made for us. Also, family photo albums and pictures are one of my favorite items to keep. Special memories.

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    1. Melissa, I know you treasure those bookcases! My father-in-law made one for our oldest son and then he helped the boys make me a combination hall tree, hope chest that I'm so glad to have. Actually, as I think about it, I have something (or more than one something!) in almost every room of my house that was handed down to us from parents and grandparents. :)

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  3. I have some bowls that have been passed down through generations along with pictures. Heirloom are definitely for a trip down memory lane or to imagine how the loved used the item if they had passed on before knowing them, but the keepsakes are there.

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    1. So true, Marilyn. So fun to imagine them using those items too!

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  4. That's so cool that you have so many treasures from the past. I have several quilts that my dad's mom and my mom's grandma made. I recently found a hundred year old glass beveling tool my grandpa probably used when he was in the glass business. I wouldn't have known what it was if I hadn't dabbled in making stained glass projects myself.

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    1. Wow, Vickie, that beveling tool is so cool! I wouldn't have had a clue what it was.

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  5. I love family heirlooms and you have such a wonderful collection. We have a tradition in our family that began with my grandmother. She received a beautiful lead crystal bowl for a wedding gift in 1904. She passed it on to me when I married because I was her oldest granddaughter. I then was to pass it on my first granddaughter when she married. I remembered that bowl from countless Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when it held Ambrosia or Waldorf Salad. A little over 10 years ago I passed the bowl on to my granddaughter at her wedding. I hope it continues. She also has my other grandmother's wedding ring from 1903. My great-grandmother's wedding ring from 1865 is still in the family and has been used as part of wedding ceremonies for the girls in our family for many years. Heirlooms like this and yours help keep family history alive. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Martha, I love the story of that crystal bowl, and the rings. Treasures indeed!

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  6. I have a glass dish from my father’s aunt. I have my Grandmother’s diamond, although it isn’t in the original setting. But still the one she wore. Grandpa sent to Tiffany’s with $ 25 from China. They threw in the setting. They were missionaries in the early 1900s . My mother was born in 1917. She had older brothers. She died in February at 101 years, 1 month and 10 days. My husband has several tables made by his grandfather and great great grandfather.

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