Sentimental Items
By lilybug
@lilybug (21107)
United States
August 3, 2011 11:14pm CST
A few weeks ago my aunt sent 2 envelopes home with my sister after visiting her for the day with my kids. The envelopes had my deceased paternal grandfather's handwriting on them. In each envelope was a $10 bill. It was the Christmas money that he had gifted them the Christmas before he died. We did not go up for Christmas that year, so the kids didn't get it. My aunt had taken them home with her since we only live about 45 minutes away from each other she figured she would give them to my kids. She misplaced them and forgot about them until recently. This is the LAST thing that my kids ever got from him and even though he obviously was not that well off from the handwriting he took the effort to hand write it to them. My kids know that I have them. I explained to them why it was so important to me that they keep the envelopes just the way they are. My son understands, but I am sure my daughter is too little still to realize it. He was given a magnifying glass that belonged to this same man and I have some of his old dishes and a table and chairs. I have my other grandfather's car that I bought from his estate after he passed last year as well.
Do you have something that is sentimental to you because it belonged to a deceased relative?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 11
Oh yes. I have so many things. all my mahogany antique furniture came from my husband's grandmother. I really treasure it and so does my daughter. I have antique plates that I display on walls and some of them are over 100 years old. I have a four poster bed. Masses of letters and photographs going back into the mid 1800's. I devote one long narrow table to my black and white or sepia coloured photographs. I have the love letters from my husband dating back 45 years now to pass on to my children. So many treasures that I love.
I am glad that you are teaching your children the importance of a heritage and respecting their ancestors.
Wonderful post. Have you changed your email addy? I wanted to send you wedding photos of my daughter.
@AmbiePam (91975)
• United States
5 Aug 11
I actually have something similar from my grandfather. Several years ago for Christmas I got a twenty dollar bill inside an envelope. Usually any writing was done by my grandmother. She would sign the birthday cards even. But this time he was the one who wrote a little something on the envlope the money was in. It just struck me that that was the first time I'd seen him do that. So I made sure to keep the envelope. He's been gone a year a half now and I'm thankful for any piece of something that reminds me of him.
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
4 Aug 11
Yes, I do have things like that, and I cherish each one of them. I have letters written by most of my ancestors, and keep them in with my genealogy files. It's interesting to see the different handwriting styles of the age they came from. The letters bring back fond memories of the relatives they came from, and the ones that I didn't know personally, it gives me a glimpse into their lives. I have other things I've kept too, a watch that was my great uncles, a brooch of my great grandmothers, and many other things that remind me of where I came from. I keep, along with the genealogy, a record of where 'what' came from: who it belonged to, how they got it, and things like that. Sometimes it's the little things that bring us joy and bring us closer to our roots!
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
5 Aug 11
I don't possess any valuable heirlooms that came from My Parents or Grandparents..But I do have a few items that I'm holding onto as keepsakes that came from them...
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
4 Aug 11
I have many such things. My problem is that I have no kids and thus no one to pass them on to. And worst of all I am old enough that my parents have both passed a long time ago. So if, somehow by a miracle, I should find a woman of child bearing age who would be interested in me, any kids I might have would have never know my parents. This, of course, would mean that getting them to feel sentimental about things that were my parents, much less my grandparents, would be very hard to do.
@bouncybug (614)
• South Africa
4 Aug 11
This is so special that your kids were able to receive such an amazing, sentimental gift. I also have some things that are really important to me, the most significant of which is a diamond and gold ring that used to belong to my grandmother. It is not a big diamond or a very expensive ring but it was my grandmother's engagement ring and after she passed away, it was given to my aunt. My aunt then decided to gift it to me as a 21st birthday present. I wear that ring every day and it serves as a fond memory for me of the great times that i spent with my grandmother.
@shellani (61)
• Philippines
4 Aug 11
My cellphone is sentimental to me because my brother gave that last Christmas and I was so surprised that he gave me a new one while he was still using his old phone.
Yeah, he's too generous in a way because he can give me his old phone, but he decided to give me a new one.
Another sentimental thing that I have is my 2.0 gig flash drive. Surprisingly given to me by unexpected person, sadly, it was now broken, but still, I kept it so that I am always reminded that a kind person gave me this.
