grampa box
as the oldest child, i’ve been the default keeper of family “stuff” like photos, scrapbooks, china, silver, and other things that wouldn’t normally seem sentimental. all this stuff sits in boxes or hidden away in closets. i love and miss my family members that are no longer here, but i can’t keep holding onto this stuff. boxes and boxes and boxes that are rarely opened… i don’t want to be responsible for all the stuff anymore. so i rounded it all up, had my siblings over, and we decided what we wanted (and what we didn’t).
in that process i found a wood box (silverware organizer?) that i had taken from my grampa’s basement after he died, and i decided that i was going to make a grampa box, and focus only on items that would fit within.
of the hundreds of photos, i chose a few that i loved (most also have my gramma in them). i added some of his pipes. i pulled his initials out of their scrabble game. i found little objects in the drawer that was in the end table in the living room by the davenport (loved that my gramma called her sofa that) — i was fascinated with that drawer as a child and going through its contents last weekend took me back about 30 years (i dumped the whole drawer into a shoebox after he died and it’s been in my basement for 5 years). i put the little objects into a small cigar box. there’s a small jar that contains his locks of hair (childhood curls?) and baby teeth, and my gramma’s engagement & wedding rings are also within.
it’s a little sad that my favorite memories of him are now contained in a box, but when they are the most powerful and meaningful memories, compact is ok.
January 25th, 2013 at 7:33 am
culling through all of those boxes is no easy task emotionally, but you have created the best box ever. it’s so nice to have something small at hand vs. in the basement, especially those wonderful pipes. enjoy your werkend!
January 25th, 2013 at 8:24 am
love it! i want to do the same thing. what a great idea. i still have a cannister of his pipe tobacco…
January 25th, 2013 at 8:59 am
i love this.
January 25th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Absolutely amazing. You have created something to look at, display, cherish vs a cardboard box of miscellany stuck in a damp, dark corner that would be ignored until it has succumb to the elements or simply time. I’m proud of you.
January 25th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
I think this is simply beautiful Jen! There is something even more powerful about distilling it these treasures.
I also had a pipe smoking grandpa – cherry tobacco, and they called their sofa a davenport. He would take a 20 min. nap every day after lunch before heading back out to farm.
January 25th, 2013 at 6:15 pm
I think that is a wonderful way to display and treasure your memories of your grampa.
..I also think that is just the tip of the iceberg. You carry all the memories with you and they don’t need a box.
January 27th, 2013 at 9:58 am
What a great idea to have his things artfully arranged so you can display them and be reminded of him.
January 27th, 2013 at 10:52 am
It’s quite perfect. I love it!
January 27th, 2013 at 8:20 pm
I wish I had something like this for my grandfather. How nice to look at it and be reminded of him.
January 29th, 2013 at 11:48 am
What a beautiful and powerful way to share and display those memories. I love this so much. Your grampa sounds like a wonderful man.
January 29th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Lovely. Perfect. Love.