Same. I like to be comfortable and I like some of the experiences I’ve had, but I’ve never really placed a lot of value on individual things. The kitchen ware is about the only thing I’m protective of, and even that is just easily replaced stuff.
Re: Alaskan native crafts.
My son would love and appreciate them. My father’s mother was one-half Aleut, and my sister and I belong to Bering Straits Native Corporation.
We are all proud of our heritage!
~VOW
My kids will probably throw most of our crap away. And some of it is truly crap!
Mr VOW and his sibs are borderline hoarders. They came from a very poor, transient childhood, and it scarred all of them to the point where they collect STUFF. I’ll try to cull through the crap as I can. Pray for me.
My personal collectables are books. They are like friends to me.
If the world goes to Hell in a handbasket, my kids are under orders from me to make their way to our place in AZ, and we all will hunker down together. Push comes to shove, we can keep warm by feeding my books to the wood stove.
When my mother died, I said I wanted nothing of hers. Losing her left a huge, gaping, raw wound, and her earthly possessions would, I thought, keep that wound raw and hurting more.
My sister took everything, and over the years she has gifted me small little knickknacks and doodads that belonged to Momma. I can hold them and look at them, and only feel warm memories.
When my kids stumble across my digital assortment of K/S stories, some of which I actually wrote, I hope my spirit is allowed to observe their reaction.
I wish I could leave my children the gift of TIME, to sort through it all, and allow them to dwell in the warmth of good memories.
~VOW
I had some good Alaska Native friends growing up in Juneau and Anchorage. The crafts I have are more Inupiak/Inuit than Aleut. One is a long piece of scrimshawed baleen. And then there are some small ivory pieces that I inherited from my mother. I also have several pen/ink drawings by George (Twok) Ahgupuk. There are also pieces by modern artists like Terresa White, who is Inuit.