This is the single greatest idea I’ve heard all year. With the spectre of another round of funerals looming and the associated house clearings/probates, I am going to embroider this on a pillow that I will get rid of when I’m done.
I’ve always been a bit more sentimental about the things my grandparents had (I first typo’d that as the thongs my grandparents had) than either of my sisters so I usually end up with a lot of those items. Usually it’s not a problem as my house is very "full’, a whole lot of things on bookshelves, on walls, displayed throughout the house. Also, they were both very into antiques, as am I, so for the most part everything has just sorta blended in very nicely.
There were a couple of things that just didn’t go and for a couple of years I carted them around, never leaving the cardboard box whenever I’d move. That eventually got tiresome and I garage saled 'em. At some point you’ve just gotta draw that line.
Something else to consider is the provenance of the “heirloom”. Sometimes we think we know the history and we don’t. When we were packing for the move from Seattle to Iowa, I mentioned to mom that we simply had to take the oak cigar stand because it was grandpa’s. She says “No it isn’t. I picked that up at a yard sale.” 
We packed it anyway. I like it.
I’m going through this to some extent in my house. It’s not crazy-cluttered and the items fit in the designated display area*, so it’s not a huge deal but sometimes I think, why am I keeping these things? If I kick off now, my parents will be dealing with the same items they didn’t want from Grandma the first time around. :smack:
*The exception is my great-grandmother’s silver, which is in a box in the closet. I’m thinking of selling it to a replacements place on-line and am too lazy, not too guilty, to get to it!
I’m really not into antiques (which may become a problem in the future as my in-laws are WAY into antiques) so I don’t have or want a lot of stuff from my grandparents. And my grandparents didn’t have much money on either side of my family so there’s not much quality stuff to be had.
But I did inherit two diamond rings from my father’s aunt. One is now my engagement ring and we had wedding bands designed and made to match. Love it love it love it.
The other ring was hideously ugly, but I had planned to pull the diamonds out and have them reset to suit my taste. That is, until I swept them up in a bunch of junk in a pre-moving clean out and threw them away. :smack: Yes, that’s right folks, I threw away diamonds.
I don’t regret the loss of an “heirloom” because I have no memories of the aunt wearing the ring, and it had no sentimental value to me. But damn, even selling them would have been throwing them out!
The moral of the story is that you should do what you want, but make sure you do it intentionally and not accidentally!
I haven’t had to really deal with this yet. That being said, I have my eye offically on a few things of my maternal grandmother’s, and I’ve been told I’m getting her wedding ring. But I couldn’t take a bunch of furniture or anything, I have no room and refuse to get a storage unit. I’d rather keep a few smallish items and let, say, the sofa, go.
From my great-grandmother (my grandma’s mother-in-law) I have a few glass dessert plates and somewhere a few silver forks to go with them. But my favorite thing I have from her is her first wedding ring. It’s a teeny tiny little gold ring with some sort of stamped pattern (birds, maybe?) in it. It’s very sweet. I also reclaimed a cross-stitch of roses I did for her when I was 13 that she adored. It’s on my wall right now.
FCM, if your daughter doesn’t want that sewing machine she is a) crazy and b) can give it to me! 
Speaking of rings, those leave me in a quandary too. One is a big ruby that Grandpa gave Grandma when she gave birth to Pop. I’d have it made into something else, but the band of the ring has their initials and the date so I’d hate to destroy that. The other is a silver ring with birthstones for me, my brother, and Grandma–yes, a grandmother’s ring. I’m not a silver even though this does actually represent me in some way. These rings are tiny and would never fit me even at my thinnest. There are no other descendants and my brother and I won’t be having children. Arg.
I am so subscribing to your newsletter.
**snowbunny **- I’m pretty sure she’ll want the sewing machine. And if she’s bratty and doesn’t, it’ll stay in the fambly - niece would be next in line.
And no, I won’t adopt you.
Is that because you’re also a Freaks and Geeks fan or because you’re not and thus my response actually seemed vaguely surreal?
pouts I don’t sew, but really old sewing machines are just cool. Dunno why. (I was totally kidding about giving it to me, of course!)