For those of you who have inherited items from deceased relatives, do you have any things that you still use regularly, as opposed to them being stashed in a box in the closet?
I have some of my grandmother’s pots and pans, dishes, cutlery and kitchen utensils, which we use every day. Same with my mom’s dishes and a few other things. All these things made the 1200 mile journey to be where I am now.
I have my mom’s tea mug that says “Weight Watcher - do not feed!” on the counter. I use it as my sugar bowl. I stir my tea every day with the same spoon I used to use as a kid. My wife and I eat off the same plates as when my family was all still together. We still use my grandma’s ice cream scoop and meat tenderizer, and my grandfather’s bottle opener. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, our turkey sits on grandma’s platter with the gold trim. I have my mom’s vacuum cleaner, which didn’t survive a fall off the truck. Its circuit board is cracked, and despite taking it in for repair twice and having them tell me it’s OK, it still works for five minutes and goes into thermal shutdown.
I have a lot of 78s that used to live in the space under the record player in my grandma’s cabinet hi-fi made in the '40s. I’ve transferred them onto the computer and removed the scratches and noise and put them on CDs. Some of my grandfather’s tools are in my toolbox. I think my hammer was his. And every night when I go to bed on sheets and pillowcases that belonged to my mom, I cover myself with the afghan crocheted for me about 20 Christmases ago, which bears the tag, “Made with love by Grandma.”
I have some kitchen utensiles that belonged to dad that I still use. I got some of his tools, and I use those as well. My mom sent me her husband’s G-1 flight jacket. It almost fits, and I’ll be wearing it when I lose about ten pounds. (I have two other G-1s that I bought myself, but they will take more weight loss before I can fit into them.)
I still have and wear my great grandmother’s bathrobe. It’s flimsy and ragged but it fits just right and has snaps instead of a tie. The thing has to be at least forty, maybe fifty years old. Everyone always says I need a new one, but I’m not gonna waste money if I have a perfectly usable robe.
I have a few of my mom’s cotton gowns and I wear them a lot because they too fit just fine. They are at least twenty years old but I’ll never get rid of them because they were my mommy’s. I also have and use her old jewelry box although the jewelry could use updating! In the little slot I keep her old driver’s license and a few pictures. I have a few of her old towels, and my bathroom is decorated with her precious artwork- paint by number kitties. They go with the colors in the room so I keep 'em. I still have a few dishes from her and my grandmother too, and my grandmother’s old hand mixer. I use it a lot.
I have a few of my grandfather’s tools, just hammers and screw drivers (and a box of nails I occasionally dip into).
Thanks for reminding me, Rushgeekgirl. Almost all of our towels belonged to my mom and grandmother. I dry myself with the humungous, fluffy, white bath sheet that my mom used to use.
When my grandmother moved out of her house (she’s since passed away) one of her requests was that the kitchen table go to someone in the family, since so much of all of our lives were spent sitting around it, gabbing. So I have this lovely antique kitchen set that she received as a wedding present from her parents. I also have her cast iron skillets, which I love.
I have a few of my dad’s old sweatshirts (I’m wearing one right now) and his watch. He was a pulmonologist (diseases of the lung) and treated a lot of the coal miners in Harlan, KY. We later moved to Louisville, and he continued to see miners that were referred to him. One of them gave him a tie tack that is a tiny chunk of coal and a tiny gold pickaxe. I have it now, and I wear it on the lapel of my jacket sometimes.
Mom still keeps Dad’s clothes in the closet (they had a big closet) and so if I ever need any clothes while I’m at Mom’s house, I just pick through Dad’s old clothes to see if there’s anything I could use.
Gosh yes, the house is full of stuff that belonged to loved ones who are gone – furniture, jewelry, linens, and collectibles like clocks and small lamps.
My daughter wears her uncle’s Seahawks, Mariners, and Sonics jackets. My brother was a little guy and they fit her perfectly, and my husband drives his blue 1995 GM pickup. My son displays his Marilyn Monroe collection but keeps the porn tapes hidden away. I’m not sure who ended up with the blow-up doll.
My favorite thing to use is mom’s stew pot. It’s Wearever and it’s stained past the point of looking good, but I think of mom whenever I use it. It’s more “her” than even her jewelry.
On my desk I have a small statue of the Madonna and Child that belonged to my great-grandmother. I suppose I don’t exactly use it, but how do you use a Madonna and Child statue, really?
We have two sets of silverware that belonged to my paternal grandmother. One is packed away, but we use the other for our “best” table setting.
I have a brooch that belonged to my maternal grandmother which I wear from time to time.
We have two sets of wine glasses that belonged to my husband’s grandparents. One set is rather odd and old-fashioned, but the other is again part of our “best” table setting.
And I just was given a red carnival glass bowl that had been my maternal grandmother’s, found when my mother and sister cleaned out the house she had shared with my aunt. I’m trying to figure out how to use it or at least display it without too much risk of breakage. I don’t want it to just get stuck in the china cabinet and never seen again…
My house is full of my grandfather’s furniture, my grandmother’s ring is on my finger right now (where it has been since the week she died in the mid-1980’s). I also have a funky set of antler-handled steak knives my grandpa bought at Harrod’s about a million years ago.
For a long time, we drove my grandpa’s last car- a killer Lincoln Mark VIII. Got the man from SoCal to Vegas in about 3 hours!
Tons of stuff. I know this will be only a partial listing.
Several pieces of furniture from my maternal grandmother’s (Grandma L’s) house: a small endtable with bookshelf that has been my nightstand for years, a small secretary, and table that I refinished myself.
My paternal grandmother’s (Grandma H’s) Fire King dishes and Grandma L’s black-and-gold glassware come out every Christmas.
Mr. S occasionally makes beans in his mother’s bean pot.
I used to keep my kitchen utensils in Grandma L’s stoneware SALT jar (which she labeled herself in paint) but now it’s been retired to display (next to the bean pot).
As I type this, Mr. S is vacuuming with his mother’s old Hoover upright vacuum. We’ve replaced the bag and the cord, but otherwise it’s still original and works GREAT.
We live in the house my husband grew up in. After his dad passed away, we bought it from the estate. There is still a lot of furniture, dishes, pots n pans, etc. that were Mom and Dad’s.
At first I was hesitant about moving in here, but when he let me convert the double garage into a cat suite I knew things were going to be all right. I’ve wallpapered the master bedroom and refinished the hardwood floor, painted the hall and am in the process of painting the living room. It’s not like living in a museum, which is what I was afraid of.
He did inherit one trait from his Dad, however. If he sees me walking by with a hammer and nail to hang up a picture, he ballls up in a hard knot and starts complaining. He hates the very idea of putting a hole in the wall. I guess he just wants the pictures to lean up against the wall. He put up one of my shadow boxes with VELCRO and now I have to re-do it because it fell. Grrrrrrrr.
I got my grandmother’s mixer-- in the original box, with the dough hooks, both bowls, and everything! I use it all the time in my teeny tiny kitchen.
My stupid cow-orkers, on hearing I got the mixer AND all the stuff, mentioned how much I could get for selling it-- I would NEVER sell the only thing I have from my grandmother. I’d rather sell my boyfriend.
Seriously! Why do people always want to compliment something by saying how much you could get for selling it? Especially if it’s like an heirloom or a gift, something you wouldn’t dream of getting rid of. I was raised that gifts were priceless, and it was rude to speculate about what the person spent for them.
My youngest brother died in September and we (the siblings) decided that the best way to honor his memory was to keep his items in use. I wear his coat and scarf and inherited his books. My brothers wear his clothes and boots. One brother uses his snowboarding equipment, another brother took his beat-up truck and is fixing it up to drive. Third brother adopted the border collie pup little brother left behind.
It feels as if we’re keeping a memory alive in a real, everyday way
I used my one dead grandmother’s microwave (so old that it was a “radar range”) for a few years after she died until it finally gave out. I also have a couple pieces of her costume jewelry, some ceramics items she painted and a glass fish thing that turned out to be 100 years old and worth over $1000.
My other dead grandmother sold encyclopedias forever ago and from her I got this ancient set of World Books that look nice on my bookshelf and that I look something up in every so often. Also got from her this cool little metal butterfly and this bizarre little metal figurine that looks like a cross between a rat and an aardvark that I’d coveted for decades.
From my one dead grandfather I have an old wooden box which I believe is a desktop humidor, which has his first and last names engraved on a plate in the lid (which are my middle and last names). It’s sort of a junk box for me. When my dad dies I’ll get some other stuff of my grandfather’s that’s similarly engraved/monogrammed. My other dead grandfather has been dead for 50 years and AFAIK there’s nothing left that belonged to him in the family.
I have an assortment of my grandpas bar items; glasses, bottle opener and his Mr. Bostons book.
I have a glass dessert stand that was my grandmothers, I use it when I have nice dinners with guests over and a pair of stirling silver salad servers (fork and spoon set) that are from Israel. They are beautiful and I love using them.
I have all of my grandmothers books including the mother of all dictionaries that was my nemesis when playing scrabble with her.
The one thing I whish I had is her Le Cruset dutchoven. Chicken soup just isn’t the same out of any other pot.
A large number of the tools I use regularly are from my Dad and some from my Grandfather. A number of pieces of furniture in daily use are also from previous generations, both from my side and my wife’s family. Fortunately, we have a big house, but it is pretty full.
I have my Dad’s old watch, his beat up old Swiss Army knife and some random jewelry and books.
What’s a bit weirder though…when his mom died, she wanted her ashes kept with her old sewing machine. My aunt has the sewing machine, with my Granma’s ashes in the drawer. But, nobody really wants the sewing machine, with or without Granma’s ashes. My poor aunt really feels the burden of appropriately caring for these items. If she goes before I do, I’ll take it…but there’s somethimg a bit creepy about the perceived need to keep this little box of ashes going into perpetuity.
I don’t have much, but I do have some dessert plates and forks that belonged to my great-grandmother, as well as her original wedding ring (which was upgraded at their 50th anniversary) which I wear all the time, on my right hand. It’s a little itty ring that must not have cost much (we’re talking 1921, it’s been a while!), but it’s absolutely adorable. I love it. Heck, I’d wear it as MY wedding ring if I got married.
She lived to be 103 and there’s a lot of her stuff floating around the family. I even got something I made for her back, a cross-stitch of some roses. I did it when I was about thirteen or so and I must say I did a nice job. She loved it.
I have several boxes of stuff that belonged to my dad; among them is a box his mother saved of his report cards and whatnot. Once or twice a year I go through some of his stuff and get all teary but happy at the same time. Damn I miss him. I should see if my brother wants any of his Air Force stuff, since he’s in the AF as well, though he’s enlisted and our dad was an officer.
