Family Treasures

I am so excited and disappointed at the same time!  My Mom told me about all the treasures that she and my Aunt found, going through all of my Grandma's things after they had been storage for 8 years.  The disappointment comes because I'm almost 900 miles away from my Mom and can't "eyeball" them myself.  My Mom had a fantastic day with her family and the two sisters had fun remember things, laughing, tearing up and then getting back on task.

My Grandma Hopkins is a social historian's dream.  Growing up relatively poor and being a newlywed when the Great Depression hit, she learned to save everything!  It was a bane to those who had to clean out her house where she had lived about 70 years, but a boon to me - the family's historian!  So much happens in a person's life that sometimes we don't even really know what we don't know!  We don't know what questions to ask!

Some of the boxes contained slips of her hand crocheted lace, fabrics and the little "bits and bobs" that you save because you might need something some day.  A few held her costume jewelry and a little doll that is about 100 years old.  Other things were more mundane like the apple box in the layout above.  My Mom remembers that her father received a gift box of fruit every year and it was always a happy occasion when it arrived (life certainly was much simpler then, wasn't it?).  This is one of the boxes - Grandma saved and reused everything.

Other boxes hold treasures that have me salivating in anticipation.  Grandma kept her diploma from "Normal School", her life time teaching credential and every teaching contract she ever had from the 1920s to the 1960s!  These will help me fill in the blanks as I share her story.  Another treasure was a family Bible about 140 years old from the Wolcott side of my family.  Several other Bibles were found belonging to my grandparents and great grandparents.  Both my grandfather and great grandfather spent some time as pastors.  There are even some Bible study and sermon notes from my Grandpa.  Since he died before I was born, I'm anxious to read them and see if I can step into his mind a little and get to know him.

Then there is the whole wooden trunk stamped F.W. Tisdale - whose treasures are yet to be discovered.  My family historian heart grows faint in anticipation!!!

Well I'll have to be patient.  My poor mother can't scan and photograph everything in the first 24 hours now, can she?

I had to do something with my excitement so I created the layout above using Jean Daugherty's Apple Hill Kit which coordinated with that apple box.  If any of you locals are reading this, yes, it's made about our Apple Hill!  It's one of the loveliest apple kits I've ever seen and I have no hesitation in recommending it!

What unexpected treasures have you found?