Stuff

Last night, Lisa was emailing with her uncle, making arrangements to meet him Friday to pick up a chair. She had purchased this blue recliner from the estate sale of her Great Aunt who recently passed away.

There’s no real sentimental attachment to the chair that I know of. We just thought we might like to have a recliner that was in pretty good condition.

Still, we have a number of pieces in our collection that you would describe as ‘family pieces.’

I’m not an antique collector nor will I ever be. That’s just not something that would be of interest to me. So, I don’t approach this topic from the perspective of the value of antiquities. Rather,  I think of family history. What happens when one of our elderly relatives passes away? Often, those of us left in the next generation, are left with lots of special memories. And stuff.

If you were to stroll through our house, you could find many items that had belonged to previous generations in our families. Some of it is utilitarian; many pieces have special significance.

Humans have certain tools they use in everyday life. We pound nails with a hammer; we wear gloves to keep us warm; we break bread around a table.

I wrote, recently, about my grandfather’s truck and how and why that is special to us. In fact, depending on the weather forecast for Friday, Lisa might choose to drive it to pick up her aunt’s chair. Or I might take it to work while she drives the Jeep.

Speaking of chairs, one of my favorite pieces in our house is the maple chair that came from the Gary farm. It was part of a set. My sister has the matching chair. I found a third chair just like the first two and it is now in my living room as well.

I was helping a friend move his second wife’s stuff from her old house to their new residence. As we were getting a load from the basement, I spotted the matching chair sitting over next to the wall. I asked him about the chair. He didn’t know anything about it. I told him that if she ever wanted to sell it, I’d gladly buy it. Just name the price!

Eventually he called me to say that his wife would sell us the maple chair. We agreed on a price and, voila, I had a set of chairs again! We got some matching fabric and now all three chairs – my sister’s and our two – look the same. My dad even refinished the third chair to match.

It has been a comfortable seat for many visitors to our house and is a popular spot for folks at our Christmas Eve gathering. In fact, Paul gets a real kick out of sitting in this chair while his sister and cousin get a kick out of him! Not only does he sit in this chair during special occasions but it’s his regular chair on ordinary days as well.

There was also a matching coffee table that, unfortunately, didn’t make it. I had really wanted to have it but unfortunately, that didn’t work out. Later, it was ruined and I am still really bummed out about that fact and especially that we didn’t have the opportunity to keep it as well.

But, after all, it’s just ‘stuff.’

Lisa has numerous pieces of jewelry and some antique things. Some of them belonged to her grandmother. Others came from other relatives. She was some books, some kitchen pieces and some glassware. She now owns some dress gloves that were passed down to her. We also have her grandparents’ dining room set and I notice her look of pride, each Christmas Eve, when the members of her family gather around that table.

I think about the special things we have that were passed down to us. How many Garys, for example, sat in the maple chair we own? And as we add the blue recliner, I wonder how many of Lisa’s relatives have sat there?

I wonder, too, about the things I have NOW. Which ones of them might have special meaning for our grandkids or future generations down the line. Would it be my Kalle Anka tie? The set of boxing gloves I got as a kid when we all went through a boxing phase? Or one of my baseball mitts from childhood? Our china and crystal?

Maybe future generations will read this blog and add their thoughts.

JG

Originally posted 3/1/2012