My parents have decided to sell their house and possibly move away to Indiana. They have been busy packing for weeks now. My Mother wants to pass on her legacy to her Son & Daughter and has had my Sister and I over to “shop” for anything we wish to take before she leaves. I must say that both of my parents came from rather poor and meager beginnings. My Mother married my Father when she was 16 years old and they have been together ever since. My Father is retired now and although I certainly cannot say they are wealthy, they’ve done pretty well for themselves considering what they started with. To say that I’m proud of them would be an understatement. I consider myself very lucky to have been brought up in a stable household and instilled with good morals and manners.

I certainly was not a pampered child. I didn’t wear the trendy fashions; I didn’t have the latest video games or plenty of “pocket money”. Candy & soda were a very rare treat and Christmas usually consisted of just one special present. My parents had expectations of their children. We had chores, they made us do our homework, and we had to be home at a reasonable time each night. What I did get however, was a Mother & Father who loved me and cared about me. My father was the kind of guy who would take his kids to the park and throw around the football. He coached the baseball team, he took us fishing. There were family picnics, vacations and outings. My Mother actually cooked dinner and we all sat around the table as a family unit each evening. During the holidays, she decorated the house and filled it with wonderful smells of baking bread & cookies. To me, this is the legacy of my Mother & Father, not their stuff. Those memories are more important to me than any belonging of theirs they want to bestow on me.

I’m not quite sure if my Mother understands this about me. She was raised in a time when our Country was just recovering from the “Great Depression”. I suppose the environment I grew up in would be considered “lavish” compared to what she had to endure. She had an “absentee” father and was raised by relatives for significant portions of her childhood. I think she assigns much more value to an accumulated wealth of possession than I do.

In any event, I think my lack of enthusiasm for her horde of “collectables” might have upset her. But Mom & Dad, if your reading this, all I’ve ever really wanted from you was your continued love and support. I want you to both be healthy and happy and come over for BBQ’s and good times with your Grandchildren. I want Dad to play chess with the boys and teach them to play the guitar. I want the boy’s Grandma to bake cookies and pies and tell them stories of how milk used to cost a nickel. You two have accumulated over half a century of “Life Experience” and that is of more value to the family than any set of dishes could ever be.

Mom did manage to “con” me into taking a few things, so I’ll display my “loot” here from the last couple of trips….

pic-1 Here is an antique clock that has to be well over 100 years old. I hung it in the living room tonight, wound it up with the key and it’s keeping pretty good time so far!

pic-2 Here is a blue crystal decanter with a set of six glasses. Very exquisite and my favorite color!

pic-3 A Christmas stocking that my mother embroidered just for me!

pic-4 A professional dart-board with six quality darts that had never even been taken out of the box. I hung it on the door of the shed and the dart you see in the pix represents the first time Mark ever threw a dart in his life. I kid you not… I’ll swear it on the Bible, we were all standing there with our mouth hanging open in disbelief!

pic-5 Mark standing proudly in front of his accomplishment.