I recently went to a Relief Society meeting where all of the Sisters shared an item from their family history. There were flour sifters and perfume bottles, teacups and mining tools.
It wasn't the Things that were important, it was the memories of the people who they belonged to...a tactile connection to them.
I often find myself handling one of my ancestor's belongings, or standing where someone from long ago stood, and wondering how they felt and what they were like. With a little imagination, the touch and feel of Things can become a Time Travel Machine to our memories.
![]() |
| my great-grandfather's wrench...I imagine him using it to make mining equipment |
![]() |
| Mt. Vernon...I stood where George Washington stood and wondered at the peace he must have felt looking over his beloved Potomac |
![]() |
| Pioneer Trail wagon ruts in Nebraska...how did my ancestors feel when they topped this hill and looked over the vast, grassy and unending plain? |
![]() |
| a quilt top pieced together by my grandmother and great aunt. I can almost see her gnarled hands sewing the patches together as the two of them discuss color combinations! |
![]() |
| My great-great-grandfather's day book. I love the inscription - "steel not this book for fear you will have to rest with the Devel!" Later in the book he recorded the day when he gave up drinking tea! |
![]() |
| Vicksburg Mississippi - thousands of men crouched in these trenches while firing and receiving warfare. Were they thinking of victory or missing home? How did they deal with the fear they surely felt? How many men died where I walked the green grass hills? |
No comments:
Post a Comment