"Upstairs, in the cupboard, he had a box of things he had saved as a boy and a young man
He hadn't looked into it in twenty years or more. Nothing fancy or valuable, but things
that had meant something to him at one time. He found it, and found the key, and carried
it downstairs without opening it."
Jane Smiley
After her grandmother's death, the granddaughter went by the old farm house to spend some time with her grandfather. He told her of the stack of handmade quilts her grandmother had stored up in the attic. The granddaughter immediately exclaimed she wanted the keepsakes. The grandpa said he was sorry as he had burned them all with the rest of her junk.
Upon her mother's death, a daughter waited for some time to pass before she sorted through her mother's things, except she could not find what she wanted most. She asked her father if he had come across her mother's journals. He laughed, saying it was a blessing he had as they were very embarrassing, so he threw them all out.
We aught not wait for a special time or particular celebration to share what we hold dear to those they are intended. All of us have a different sense of value, treasuring random items. What is junk to one is antique to one other. Enjoy the moment of personally gifting belongings to those who will appreciate it long after we are gone. Make it a special delivery!
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