Creating Shadow Boxes of Memories

"Lil loved this," I said, picking up a piece of Depression glass that my mother-in-law had displayed in her home. "How can we sell it for a few dollars at a garage sale?"My sister-in-law looked up from pricing some items on a table in the living room. "You need to keep the items that are important to you, that are your memories. Otherwise the task is paralyzing."The rest of the afternoon, as we sorted through my in-law's estate, I tried to keep that advice in mind. Back in 2004, this wisdom helped me with the task of sorting through seven decades of memories as I put aside items to take back with me to Arizona. This advice stayed with me, ten years later, when we sorted through my parents' estate.I like to have items from the past around me in my home. I don't like to store heirlooms in a back closet where they never see the light of day. I like everyday historical items to be well-loved and well-used. In my home, you will find the following:

• A pottery jar filled with cinnamon and sugar in my kitchen that belonged to my mother-in-law.
• A 1920's quilt hanging in my guest room that belonged to my Great Aunt Lena.
• The special occasion china that belonged to my husband's grandmother.
• My mother's rolling pin.

Other family items decorate my walls. In my living room, under a sign that says, "Home is Where Your Story Begins" are four shadow boxes displaying belongings from each of our parents. The project began with a desire to display my father-in-law's WWII war medals. Erv never liked to talk about the war. The medals were tucked away in a drawer in his bedroom dresser. One medal for Good Conduct. One for his involvement in the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign. Plus two others.Erv's shadow box included items from the war. His registration card. A collection of photos. An insignia pin from his division, the Timberwolves.  My mother-in-law's shadow box centered around sewing.I created the background from a photocopy of a quilt Lil sewed. I tucked a childhood photo  in a handkerchief.The tiny clock inscribed on the hospital baby rattle has the time when Lil was born in 1927. I chose the top of a blue stick pin to represent the Delft pottery she displayed in her kitchen. I completed the box with some buttons from her sewing box.I chose a teaching theme for my father's box. I displayed an Albert Lea apple pin, a Tiger's homecoming button and an ornament with the saying, "To teach is to touch a life forever."A cross to represent his faith, a small bicycle for a favorite hobby, a fix-it book with a play-on-words for his first name of Stanley, and a pewter ship from a trip to Norway finished the selections, along with a handful of old photos.The theme of Mom's box was gardening, including a deeper meaning all gardener's realize as they plant seeds into soil: hope. In her last years, mom kept a small collection of HOPE items by the phone in the kitchen, under the calendar that listed all of her and dad's oncologist appointments.I added some items to remember Mom's participation in the Red Hat Club, in Relay for Life, and her love of perfume, lipstick and pansies. The photos of Mom and Dad on their honeymoon are some of my favorites of them.   What historical items do you have surrounding you in your home? This post concludes a series on legacy story gathering. You might want to read:Free Download: My Words in Our StoryA Father's Words for His Daughters: A Legacy ScrapbookValentine's Day Memory ScrapbookNoted: Legacy Story GatheringRolling Pin Memories: A Legacy StoryThe Spreading Power of Kindness _________________________________

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