The Superior Express -

How we treasure our family heirlooms, if we are fortunate enough to have some handed down to us. Maybe we treasurer them a little too much. Sometimes we store these heirlooms safely and neatly tucked away in a chest, a drawer or a cabinet. There they remain unused, and not viewed for a long periods of time. We are so afraid something will happen to them that we wait to to use them or a look at them. They are never fully enjoyed.

Maybe the well kept heirloom is grandmother’s china and silverware too special to use, a quilt that was lovingly made by a mother, or family photo album that had been in the family for years. An acquaintance once shared that her mother had her wedding china on a shelf in the china cabinet. As a child she kept asking her mother why she didn’t get the china out and use it. She’d tell her daughter it was too special to use. When the acquaintance was older and returned home to visit, she noted that her mother’s wedding china still remained as it had in the cabinet.

I remember my mother-in-law would get her special wedding gifted china every holiday to set on the family table to use. It is a beautiful pink rose patterned set. She would use the silverware that was handed down from her mother . As my sister-in-law and I were placing the treasures on the long dining room table, she would share the history and special meaning of the treasures. Being a former home economics teacher, she would tell us the correct placing positions for the china and silverware. The sparkling crystal long stemmed glasses were used also. Those had once been her mother-in-law’s. Lovely linen napkins would be taken from a special drawer to use. All were set upon the white linen table cloth used at every holiday meal. As she told us the history of each treasure, I was glad she used them as my sister-in-law and I would never have heard their history and their importance to her. She would add, “Now when you girls get these treasures, you don’t store them away. You use them.” When we lost out dear mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and I were fortunate to each inherit a full set of the pink rose patterned china, as her mother-in-law had a set of the same patterned china and she had given a complete set just like it to her new daughter-in-law. We both use the china at many of our family holiday meals, carrying on our mother-in-law’s wishes to use the treasures.

My aunt showed me a treasured box of family photos that once belonged to her mother, my grandmother. I looked at the well viewed family photos yet still in tact, as she would tell me about each one. She explained the photos were worn as she and her siblings loved to look at the photos as her mother told about each of the family members in those photos. My aunt knew the history of each photo as she shared the information with me. I can imagine all the excitement of the nine children getting out those photos through the years and looking at them. Had grandmother decided not to allow the children to get the treasures out, they would never have gained the family history those photos contained.

It’s like the beautiful and cherished quilts my mother made for her family members. It’s amazing to think of all the hours she spent making those quilts. I’ll never forget her words, “Don’t you store the quilts away. Use them.” Each time I make the beds in our home and place the quilts upon the beds, I think of my mother. Though I must admit there are some of her special quilts I have on display in a glassed front case so I can still view them everyday. I sure hope I’m following the wishes of my mother-in-law, grandmother and mother, in not treasuring the treasures too much while using them at least once in a while.