Thursday, May 1, 2008

The best inheritance has no monetary value.

I consider myself fairly unique. I've said before that I don't have a style, I have an opinion.

Ask any of my friends, there's not a room in our house that looks like it came out of a department store or any other furniture store that sells you a "set" of furniture.

I don't believe that a real home can be purchased from a store. A real home is developed by incorporating memories and adding to it as you go. It's a process and if it can all be delivered on a truck from the same place, thats unacceptable. (unless you're moving from one home to the next)

One thing that I love about our home is that it's filled with history and hand-me-downs. Ryan complains that every time I see my Mom, I gain a piece of furniture....but I love that. I love it that when people ask me where I got something, my answer often times has a story behind it.

Like the woven sign in our guest bathroom that came from Ryan's grandparents (that I didn't realize was actually made to go in a bathroom when I hung it by our front door), or the grandfather clock in the living room that hung his grandparent's mantle, the elephant that was my pawpaws, the iron bed I grew up with as a kid that was actually from my great granparents home or the sofa handed down from my brother.

I was blessed to inherit my grandparents dining room table from my Dad's mom. It's a big piece of furniture that you can see from the front door and gets so many compliments. (My granny has an awesome style and it's such a cool table.)

But one of my favorite things that I've inherited is something few people ever see. It sits in our kitchen on the container of flour and makes me smile every day. It's a thought for the day book that was my Memaw's and she had it in her kitchen. It has a thought for the day and every few days or so I come across a hand written note on it....birthdays, anniversaries, the day the payment for the chrysler or motorhome was due.

Somehow, by reading these notes each day, I feel like I honor her memory a little bit more and am that much closer to her. And by re-enacting this process that she did in her kitchen, I can only hope that it helps me to one day become the woman that she was.

I'll leave you with one of the thoughts from this week that is really awesome. "The most worried people you know are troubled about small things that don't exist or really matter. The least worried are those who face a few big ones and take them by the horns. -Norman Shiddle"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your memory of Memaw made me smile...even though you were the favored grandchild :)