Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Every day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined topic chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-fourth day of the month is "Family."
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The curio cabinet has arrived and has been curio-ed and my husband has hidden* the key and has asked me not to touch it because the lock is old and fragile and I am big and clumsy. We also brought home one of my husband's grandmother's cedar chests. It now lives in our bedroom. We are pretty sure it was his grandmother's hope chest, but that's just our best guess.
Why, you might be thinking, don't you just ask his grandmother? Because she's 100-years-old and thinks Dr. BB is her long dead neighbor and that I am one of her sisters. She's very good about talking about things from the 1940s, but she doesn't know who we are, doesn't remember the condo that's currently up for sale, and certainly can't give us the rundown on furniture in said condo. If we'd known we would be responsible for family heirlooms and the like, I might have made more of an effort to ask her about these priceless pieces of furniture in the last decade and a half. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have because then it would have been as if I were trying to steal all of her stuff.
And you probably think that's the last post about furniture that you're going to see from me in the near future. Ha ha. Just wait until tomorrow.
If you were a piece of furniture, what would you be? I desperately want to be the dictionary stand that Jenny's parents had in her house when she was growing up. (She wrote about in the comments on this post, if you have no idea what I'm blathering about.)
*It's not hidden. I know where it is. But he DID, in fact, ask me not to touch it. LOL.
I think I'd be a really cozy, overstuffed reading chair (positioned, preferably, by a sunny window).
ReplyDeleteOh, that's perfect! I'd like there to be a bird feeder outside that window, too!
DeleteHa, I'm going to have to post a photo of the dictionary stand soon! That's a good choice. I think I would be a piano bench.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely hard to find the perfect time to have these conversations. I'm laughing at the thought of your husband's grandmother thinking you're trying to steal her stuff- but honestly, how do you have a conversation like that without implying "when you're gone, I'll be inheriting this?"
Yes, the more I thought about how that conversation would have gone, the more ridiculous I found the scenario. When my MIL was terminally ill, those conversations came really naturally, but since grandma has just been slowly declining, the timing for that type of questioning never really seemed appropriate!
DeleteI have an old desk that my great-great grandparents bought in 1895 and gave to my great grandmother in 1941. How do I know this? Because my great-great grandmother wrote those words on a piece of paper that's in the desk! That's the only heirloom that I have that came with an explanation.
ReplyDeleteI love our family heirlooms BUT I'm going Team Elisabeth - I'd be a cozy overstuffed reading chair.
Oh, what a LOVELLY thing for your great-great grandmother to have done. I should start taping notes on the bottoms of all these pieces of furniture with what little information I have. Such a good idea!
DeleteI applaud your use of "curio" as a verb.
ReplyDeleteCan I be an Adirondack chair so I can sit outside all the time? Maybe one that belongs to my Husband because he covers the patio furniture in the winter to keep it protected.
I think an Adirondack chair is a GREAT idea. I think your instinct to have it be a piece that someone takes care of it spot-on, too.
DeleteOh, that chest is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think I would have to be a bookcase. Not that most of mine are anything fancy, they're Barnes & Noble castoffs, but they're solid.
Ha. I just want to be a solid piece of furniture seems like it should be my new motto.
DeleteSo I have to kind of laugh at the conversation above about talking about inheriting things from people before they die... When I was young, probably around 7-8, I flat our asked my grandparents if I could have their house when they died!! Luckily they found the humor in it and were probably touched that I loved their house so much that I wanted it. They lived probably 1/2 mile down the road from us and I biked to their house A LOT in the summer so I did spend a lot of time in that house, and it was kind of cool. Of course adult Lisa would NOT want that house, but young Lisa did. My grandma is still alive and will turn 100 in May. Fortunately she is still pretty sharp, especially for her age. When we visited her last fall, she asked us about interest rates since she knows Phil and I both work in finance. When we left Phil said he couldn't believe she still follows things like that! I'm not at all surprised, though. She's a super sharp lady that emails, uses facebook, etc. It's all so remarkable for a 100yo person. Her biggest complaint is that she has horrible macular degeneration and can barely see anything, so she can't do her favorite hobbies, like crosswords, reading, crocheting. She can do wordle, though, as she blows up the font huge enough that she can see it. She loves it - I take pride in the fact that I thought to introduce her to it. I knew she'd love it.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd have to choose a cozy reading chair like Elisabeth did!
Yay for your grandmother being so aware still! It has only been in the last year or so that my husband's has declined, so we feel so lucky that we had so many years with her.
DeleteI LOVE that little Lisa asked if you could have their house. What a sweet thing to say! I'm sure they were very touched by that.
It's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that your husband's grandma is still alive! What a lovely long life - even if she's confused now, that is quite something!
Hmmm. Maybe I'd be my piano? But then I saw that comment about the Adirondack chair, and that seems like a nice choice too.
I never thought I'd see so many thoughtful answers to that silly question about what furniture you'd like to be. I think a piano is lovely, particularly a piano that is well-used and well-loved!
DeleteI am dying to know what it means that you "curioed" your cabinet. Do we get to see what's inside? Maybe Dr. BB will take the photos, if you might present a threat to the contents.
ReplyDeleteI just love that you have these family treasures. So beautiful.
If I were to be a piece of furniture, I would be a kitchen table. Like ours: it was my husband's kitchen table before it was ours. Just think of all the wonderful meals it's held, all the conversations it's heard, all the pen marks and glue splashes and wine stains and gravy splatters and fork-tine pokes it's endured, all the squabbles and laughter it's taken part in! That's what I would want to be, always. The heart of the home, surrounded by love in all its forms.
"The heart of the home, surrounded by love in all its forms." Oh, how absolutely lovely. I teared up a little. My readers have really come through on such delightful answers to an absolutely ridiculous question.
DeleteI assumed that no one would be interested in the curio cabinet since I already posted a photo of it, but since I have to write Every Single Day, I am now planning an entire post devoted to how we curio-ed the cabinet.
I ALWAYS think about the stories old furniture could tell! What meals has that table served? What books has that bookcase shelved? What fights has that cedar chest seen?
That chest is absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy great aunt, who will be 99 in April, gave me 2 rolling pins, perhaps a year or two apart. Each time, she told me they were homemade by her grandfather (great-grandfather?) as a wedding gift to his daughter in law. They both looked plain and like they might be such a gift, but who knows? Maybe the gifted rolling pin was given away years ago, and these came from Sears? I have no idea. I gave one to my cousin, and told her it may or may not be a handmade rolling pin from an ancestor. Funny.
Hmmm. If I could be one piece of furniture, what would I be? Maybe a bed...when the couple was young, I'd get a lot of action, which would likely taper off as kids came along and the couple got older. Kids would climb into bed with their parents on weekend mornings, wanting a story and some cuddle time. Perhaps the couple would be the kind to watch movies in bed, or while away a morning reading books. They might have long conversations, about big and little things. Perhaps one of them would sleep on the couch once in awhile, and I would feel sad for them both. Maybe there would be breakfast in bed on Mothers Day. Perhaps, if I were a strong, well made bed, I would still be there when the couple got old. Perhaps one or both of them would be confined to me, and I could try to give them strength and comfort. Who knows, maybe one or both of them would die on me, and I would feel like I had seen and shared so much with them. I hope their children would want me, or give me away to another family, and not throw me in the dump.
I don't know about a bed. I mean, most of the time people are just asleep on it. You make some other good points, but it seems like you wouldn't see a ton of people being active!
DeleteWe have a few little heirlooms but not furniture.
ReplyDeleteWe're very lucky that they've been handed down to us.
DeleteMaybe you could ask if she got any furniture for the wedding or such things. If it is very old it may reach her memory. My grandma used to suffer from alzheimers and when we asked about her childhood and early days she started telling us things. We could piece together a few things.
ReplyDeletei don't know what kind of furniture I would be. Or if I want to be one...
Yes, I will try to do that the next time we see her. I think asking about what her housing situation looked like when she first got married might be the ticket into finding out more information.
DeleteAwwwwww, my grandma’s cedar chest is where we store out hats and gloves in the laundry room. I would be a really prissy, fussy, gaudy canopy bed from the 1980s JC Penney catalog because I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wanted one.
ReplyDeleteA canopy bed! What a lovely thing to wish for. I honestly thought they were something that only rich people had, so it never even occurred to me to think about having one of my own!
DeleteHmmmm... blogger ate my comment.
ReplyDeleteThe Hope Chest is lovely and it would be nice to know all the origins of the newly inherited pieces, bit I get it. I'd probably be a Chaise Lounge or a Fainting Couch. 😜
Wow, the chest is absolutely beautiful. It's unfortunate that you can't ask BB's grandma about the origin, but I am sure you'll treasure it. A family heirloom.
ReplyDelete