Memorabilia

In my last post I mentioned that we have a coffee table in our living room that belonged to my grandparents. After reading my post my aunt – the one who had sent me all the cards – wrote to say that the table was one given to my grandparents by their three children and their spouses as a 40^th wedding anniversary present.

All of them had a party together which included a turkey dinner made by my uncle’s wife. I don’t know if the visit was a surprise to my grandparents but I am pretty sure the table was.

It is an antique today but was brand new to my grandparents in April 1954.

It’s oval in shape with a glass top. It was a bit awkward in our previous home but has found a place in our condo. It now holds a large trailing African violet that blooms constantly. The violet itself was a gift from a friend back in the 1980s and is a special reminder of that lady who has since died. She brought a very small cutting of her plant – which grew across her kitchen wall – on a visit from Oklahoma. That small piece developed into the large plant pictured here. The main plant has also given up many small branches from which other plants have grown, like the one sitting alongside it. These have been passed along to other friends over the years.

Both are special memorabilia in their own ways.

Here is the card that went with the table, another piece of memorabilia.

I have many other prized items passed down from previous generations. My wife does not think all of them are all that decorative but they will be here as long as I am. I’ll talk about them in later posts.

Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is the Editor of Relatively Speaking, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society. Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.