Having a Good Heirloom Day

Funny how in this country a "family heirloom" means something that might be a century old and often doesn't look like much. If you are my crazy uncle, family heirlooms are simply things you take to antique shops to see how much you can get for them. When my maternal grandmother died, she left me a beautiful porcelain watering pot hand painted with roses; I have no idea what it might be worth because to me the sentimental value is higher than any monetary value. Grandma left each of us grandchildren something, and one cousin got an old cookie jar that wasn't much to look at, but which people thought might be worth a great deal. My brother, who had a habit of not writing thank-you notes to Grandma, got an ugly little table with two chairs that looked like it was worth nothing, but people have told me Formica tables can be worth a fortune. I guess you can't judge an heirloom by its looks.

Some heirlooms turn out to be very useful. If I had not managed to convince my mother that the old taterbug mandolin would be better off being fixed up and played rather than just sitting on top of the piano she also doesn't play, I would probably not now have a semi-career as a semi-professional musician. It was my mother, after all, who kept pestering me to find out if I actually USED the mandolin and violin, because if I didn't, she wanted them back. (Not that she knows how to play either one, but presumably they would be better off sitting idle at her house than at mine.) Now that I have played both instruments in a variety of groups (Renaissance, mariachi, bluegrass, folk, and Mideastern, not to mention KlezKamp and the Early Music camp), she has conceded the point.

A coworker from a Latin American country sent me this picture of a family heirloom. He said it dates back to the Middle Ages and it came from Spain. Of course, knowing this coworker, he could be pulling my leg, but it looks authentic. Anyway, it seems funny how nobody in this country has family heirlooms like this. Why not? Didn't our ancestors come from Europe too? My people were island people, but my family has no nautical heirlooms. Where did they go? Not that I would have any idea what to do with this; I may be able to play the old violin and mandolin, but I'm not so experienced with Medieval weaponry, at least not enough to make a semi-career out of it.

Some Other Family's Heirloom

Famous Hat