Heirlooms: Treasure or Nightmare?
#31
I have been the proud owner of my dad’s Craftsman table saw circa 1954. 8 inch. I used it for over 30 years, then upgraded to a 10 inch with a much larger table. The old one sat unused. About 5 years ago I helped with a very large remodel/addition and took dad’s saw there. It sat in the pole barn there for too long, but it was out of my way.
My son has not shown any interest in woodworking, plus he lives in an apartment. Recently my son in law started doing some projects. I offered him the saw- and he was very happy to have it. It is still in the family, and being appreciated.
I know that most of my tools will end up in some other family- and I am fine with that.
While I hope my kids see value in what I have found important, I realize they more than likely won’t. My son has, and treasures his grand father’s 30-30, and his late uncle’s 30-06. More than likely he will keep all my guns- must of which were my father’s.
More important than them keeping my “things” I hope they will have good memories that they will want to keep. I also hope they will keep the values that their mother and I tried to instill. So far I am very encouraged
Things are just stuff.

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#32
Like Zach said,
"The only thing that makes an heirloom special is the story."
I would also add that "the story" isn't about the heirloom...it's about the person connected with the heirloom.

I don't need all the stuff that my grandparents and parents kept as important to them. I just keep a few things that connect me to each of these people.

A picture frame that one grandfather made, and a level that I got at his estate sale--he's the one who taught me how to use a level.
A drawknife that was my other grandfather's...I remember probably the last time it was used by him, it still has some of the grinder marks from when he sharpened it.
Some knick knacks that I will always connect with my grandmothers.

None of this is actually stuff that they would have considered "valuable" or "heirlooms", but it's stuff that causes me to remember them whenever I see it or use it.

I don't expect my kids to value the same things that I do. I make things for myself and my wife that we want/need. I make gifts for the kids (and now grandkid) because I enjoy making and giving them. If they're things that they value and keep, great. If they go to the thrift store for someone else to enjoy, that's good too. I hope that my relationship with my kids is such that they want to keep something that I made, but it's still not about the "stuff" that I think is valuable...it's about the relationship I build with them and the truly important things like faith and integrity that the people whose stories my heirlooms are connected with instilled in me.
Dave Arbuckle was kind enough to create a Sketchup model of my WorkMate benchtop: http://www.arbolloco.com/sketchup/MauleSkinnerBenchtop.skp
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#33
About the only family heirloom I got from my parents that I value is my Dad's Eastwing hammer. I don't expect that to have any meaning for my kids.  I have some other things, but they are just dead weight.  I have a spool chest from my grandfather's failed country store that I would love to get rid of.  We have built a world where everything is impermanent.  It's not like you can get a job in one location and expect to stay there for a lifetime like our parents could, shareholders demand bloodletting on a regular basis.  Who wants a batch of stuff to move when that inevitable time comes.  Our children are looking at a future where most people will be working in the "gig economy," i.e. everyone is a temp. This is just realism on their part, not a rejection of the past.  Owning stuff is expensive and an emotional weight.

Watching our parents pass or go into nursing homes has really concentrated my mind on this subject. I gave away most of my mom's stuff, but still got a burdensome amount from her.  I would have a lot less stuff right now if getting rid of it wasn't so much work.
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#34
Nobody in my family and none of my kids are interested in woodworking, but the basic hand tools they'll fight over.  When I get to the point I can no longer use my tools, I'll start liquidating them.  I'll probably sell them and put that money into the kids' inheritance.

I hear what you say about not wanting to throw things away, though.  When I got remarried, I helped my wife go through a LOT of stuff she had in storage, including reams of paperwork that her ex didn't claim.  That guy saved EVERYTHING, from $0.20 receipts to transcriptions of computer conversations he had with his parents when he was in Africa.  I think we made probably 5 trips to the dump with a full pickup truck load of things that weren't worth keeping.  I grew up in a military family, and then served on active duty for 11 years.  I moved a LOT, so purging is kind of second nature to me.  The key is not getting an emotional attachment to things.  Things are things.  Memories are memories.  You can throw away things.  Memories are kept forever.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#35
Meh. After I'm dead, I don't care what they do with what I possess. If they sell it, great: It helps them financially. If they keep it and use it, great: It helps them in other ways.

My daughters will likely enjoy using my tools if their interest in them continues. If not, meh. I hope they get good prices for them.

As to the stuff I build? If it becomes heirloom, great. If not, again, I'll be dead.
Semper fi,
Brad

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#36
(10-23-2018, 09:40 AM)®smpr_fi_mac® Wrote: Meh.  After I'm dead, I don't care what they do with what I possess.  

As to the stuff I build?  If it becomes heirloom, great.  If not, again, I'll be dead.

I'm totally with you on this bro..... when its over, its over.  I don't even want a gravestone, scatter my ashes in someone's vegetable garden to adjust the pH.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#37
I tried telling my wife the same thing: Burn me and spread my ashes. Nope. She wants a traditional burial. Meh. It's her money once I'm gone!
Semper fi,
Brad

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#38
We went through the lunch and breakfast schlep with the cinders expediter, some retail version of group that simply collects a fee on cremations sold and done by a bonafide undertaker. Best thing about the experience was the free lunch.  Our own instructions will be added to the sticky note of friends and in-laws to be notified. 

Wife and I were saddled with cleaning out a parents house. Unfortunately, nothing had been sorted and disposed of. As well we had a van to take a few things and ended up being the 'dump' for unwanted stuff. Naturally, the 'dump' was moved into our basement. 

We hope to relieve Son of making decisions on our worldly possessions--because he can't.
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#39
(10-23-2018, 09:40 AM)®smpr_fi_mac® Wrote: Meh.  After I'm dead, I don't care what they do with what I possess. 

True, because after you're dead, you have no capacity to care.  In my case, I don't want to burden my family with trying to dispose of things for which they have no sense of value.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#40
Oh, I see what you're saying, AHill. Hopefully I'll be of mind to start getting rid of my crap before I die.

Or I might just stage convenient house fire and save everybody the trouble!
Semper fi,
Brad

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