Heirlooms

Last summer, during our trip to Spokane, one of my very favorite aunties passed away after a long illness. I have the warmest and fondest memories of my Great Auntie Lil and her farm in Post Falls. When we were children it was always a treat to visit the farm, play on her piano, chase the cows, dare each other to touch the electric fence, and just explore the land and house that were filled with odds and ends and treasures of all kinds.

Several years ago, my dad's cousin inherited the farm from her father and she and her husband made vast improvements to the land and the house without interfering with it's innate charm. Our sweet cousin and her husband have hosted my children and I on the few trips I've made back home over these last several years. A visit to the old-farm-made-new continues to be a highlight of my own children's visits to the Pacific Northwest.

This past week I received an unexpected package from my dad's cousin. Contained within was an heirloom gift of dainty pewter Norwegian earrings that had once belonged to my Great Auntie Lil. Cousin Nancy had wanted my sister and I to each have a little something that had belonged to her mother. The gift is touching and means so much to me. I now have a new favorite pair of earrings to wear and each time I do, I'll be reminded of my extended family on the other side of the country and of the treasured heirloom memories from my childhood.

Ooh, I love them! They are so light and dainty and tinkle when I move my head.

These are old school earrings with screw posts, much more secure than the type we find today.