Handwritten family recipes Fortrel pantsuits as a beach blanket Great-Uncle ' s ring I wear most days
Either they graciously decline or they want it. Maybe they’ ll invite me over to admire it at their place.
I could haul out my precious paraphernalia for one last victory lap. Drive the vintage car around town! Wear the curling sweater! Invite folks to a special meal of heirloom recipes( or pizza!) on the old china, silverware, crystal, and tablecloths. After we enjoy it and snap photos, I could invite my guests to take what they want.( We’ re allowed to split up a set. Want to keep the teapot? Two place settings?)
What better place to showcase( or exchange) heirlooms than a family reunion! Folks might also display or use memory-soaked items at a wedding: a dress, something in a bouquet or topping the cake, a cherished knife( or sword!) to cut the cake, dinnerware and linens for the head table. My mother’ s 1945 wedding ring became my daughterin-law’ s 2023 wedding ring in Shanghai. It’ s helpful to explain— in a speech or on place cards— the history of such a special item so that so that guests can appreciate its significance. Celebrations are busy, though, so I would delegate one person to keep track of an heirloom and pack it up. Or— offer it up.
A theatre company might need vintage clothing or props. Charities often welcome useful articles, such as furniture in excellent condition.
Key items might be donated to an archive or museum. Sports-day posters, locally recorded music, Okanagan postcards, a lunch menu— all might contribute to the understanding of a moment in time in a place. Amongst my late father-in-law’ s belongings, my husband discovered a bunch of very old photographs of a New Brunswick town. The provincial archives accepted them, and now they are preserved in a public collection. An unexpected bonus? He received a sizable tax receipt in the mail! Note that institutions might say no thanks, as their space is limited.
At my house, some objects are useful, such as the footrest my dad built for me out of old cupboard doors when I started working at a desk job. Some things, such as my ring and the footrest, tell stories about my ancestry, loved ones, childhood, or experiences. Meanwhile, others merely hide out-of-sight in a cupboard or crowd a bookshelf in plain sight, and it’ s time to give them new life or get rid of them— along with the guilt. Making these decisions is big work, but I don’ t want to be the parent who left this heavy worry to my kids when I should have taken care of it myself. And let’ s be honest: they don’ t want my stuff, including my forebears’ stuff. Believe me, I asked.
Sheila Bean is a retired schoolteacher in Calgary. A bit of a packrat, she still hoards remnants of her teaching career: books, games, and even online files( invisible clutter that must also be culled).
SUMMER 2025 | 25