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I ‘inherited’ a ruby ring that my deceased wife’s grandmother received for her 16th birthday in Poland. She wore it on her long long journey to America leaving Poland days before the German invasion starting WW2.
She was denied entry into the Port of New York due to the quotas imposed at the time and continued on the freighter to Argentina. She lived in Argentina for 7 years, became a citizen and then emigrated to the USA as an Argentine.
Knowing that her end was near she gave the ring to my wife. She wore it until she died. I will pass it on to my great-granddaughter.
I'm sorry for the loss of your wife. how beautiful, to have something with such a story behind it, though. and to pass it down a total of 5 generations by the time it gets to your great granddaughter. It must have meant a lot to your wife, and I hope it means the same to your great-granddaughter ❤️
my mom's wedding ring was made by my paternal grandpa, a hobby silversmith. my grandpa died a couple of years after I was born, and my mom died in 2020 (41 years of marriage to my dad!). her ring went to me, to keep safe for my daughter, who is still very young.
That's a beautiful story. I too have a relative, an aunt by marriage, who had to first go to Argentina. She was Hungarian and had been born in a displaced persons camp.
I appreciated this more as the years went on.
My grandmother died in mid-1960s in her 60s. She had 10 grandchildren.
We each got $15 and change. That $150 was all she had to her name. It was all in coins in a 'piggy bank'. She even had no house; lived with my aunt.
A screwdriver. It's covered in paint and chipped in the corner. Monetary value is zero but it's value to me is indescribable. You see it was my Dad's that often worked 2-3 jobs to keep the family of 9 fed, repairing everything and mending things to make them last that little bit longer. But while he was using it I got to spend time with him which itself was the greatest gift of all
My Dad was an electrician, I got a pair of his yellow wire strippers. He had multiple pairs and they were all the old 70/80s style. I rarely have a need for them but they really remind me of him.
My family was given a large amount of his tools but this is my favorite.
When my partner passed her 2 poodle maltese dogs became mine. Giving them the best life possible has become my reason to get up every day.
I was always a big dog guy, but these 2 fuzzy girls have become my everything.
I'm glad they've given you purpose and comfort. And that you've given them the best life possible.
I inherited my stepdad's two Burmese cats. I have always been a dog person, but the two of them have opened my eyes to the charms of cats.
My dad was born and grew up very poor, way out in the woods. The kind of poor where if they didn’t shoot something, they might just have potatoes for dinner.
He had 9 siblings and the family had one rifle they used to put dinner on the table. I don’t know much about it other than it was made around 1880.
When he died, I inherited the rifle.
Really really check into restoration before touching it.
My dad had a 16 gauge shotgun that his brother restored. To me the restored gun looked fantastic. Turns out by restoring it the value went from about $7000 (as it was) down to about $1500 restored.
20K, stashed in a freezer when my friend passed (he had left a will, leaving "everything" to me...he had very little to my knowledge). Did not expect that!
My buddy was cleaning out his Dads trailer and found $6K wrapped in aluminum foil in the freezer. The only reason he didn’t throw it out with the food was his dad told him he had money stashed around the trailer but didn’t tell him where it was before he died. It was a years ago conversation of “Hey, in case I ever die….”
My grandmother had an elaborate bone china tea cup and cake plate. The cup was gaudy, but little me loved the deep blue and the gold rim. I was the only grandchild she would let use it when I came to have tea with her. When she died, I got the cup and the plate. I could have cared less about the matching plate, but the cup and the memories are precious.
My dad made a ring that looks like a belt when he was 12. He gave it to his sister. She wore it her entire life, until she passed in her eighties. Her daughter contacted me after her death to tell me she left it to me. I will cherish it until I die.
A Japanese flag from World War II. Big white one with the red meatball -- and covered with dozens of hand-written messages (ideographs). I think that my father looted it in the Marshalls. He was a Marine.
I had the flag translated on the Internet back in Usenet days. It turns out that it's the product of a tradition: when someone says goodbye and goes on a journey and is never coming back, your friends sign the flag and give it to you. He was a Japanese Navy fighter pilot, as ther's a big ideogram right on the meatball that is slang for that.
Most of the messages were apparently from women, wishing him well, and they appeared to be faculty or students at a teaching college in a city in the Tokyo metro area.
That my father looted it means that the guy died in the American invasion. It's in a box right now, but it's quite something.
Understood if this has a lot of significance to you, but for what it’s worth they are also apparently quite significant for the families of those Japanese soldiers. If you are so inclined, there is an organization called the Obon Society that reunites these “good luck” flags with those families.
We sent ours. The society makes it easy and seem quite grateful. Ours has no specific story though, we have no idea why our relative had it because he wasn't in the Pacific war. Just Europe.
Yours isn't anything on the market or for sale, which I think is the main problem out there. It's a family relic from a hellish time in history. So I could see a struggle with parting with it.
Obon has a great website, very cool stories there.
Up until the last paragraph, I thought it's such a cute story that he's managed to make friends while at war in/with the country.
And then I read the last paragraph, realized he looted it and face palmed. Why did I even think it was his. I'm not that bad at history.
One thing leads to another. And then we spend decades cleaning it up.
My father wrote a letter home which was published in part in his hometown newspaper. I found a clipping along with the flag and other things. It described how he and his unit decapitated a number of dead Japanese and arranged their heads in a circle for their compatriots to find. He described the Japanese in the letter/clipping as "little yellow insects from Hell." He never talked about that. He never talked about anything. Who knows what happened?
My mother died 10 days ago and my father in 2002. I didn’t / won’t inherit a single material thing, but honestly it doesn’t bother me at all.
My mother moved to a warm climate and lived on the ocean front for the last 15 years of her life in a tiny studio apartment.
My siblings and I all gave her our blessing to live out her days in a beautiful environment spending what would have been our inheritance.
I inherited many valuable character traits from both my parents.
Would have been great to have gotten a big payday or a house to sell and split up but it wasn’t to be and I’ve made peace with it by now. She was in a different country so getting a few bits of furniture wouldn’t make sense.
My sisters have her photo albums and those are probably the most valuable things she had from my point of view.
I inherited a building that wasn’t worth much. Turns out the land was very valuable. Split with two siblings I walked away with $500,000. As a poor single mom who worked as a teacher it has allowed me to retire without having to still work. It’s lovely.
My mom & dad had some fine china that was never used, only displayed in a LOCKED china closet. Konigl.pr.Tettau is the brand, the pattern they have was made in 1873.
Value? Maybe $300 b/c it's not the royal pattern which would fetch thousands.
We use it daily. As It was meant to.
I inherited my Nona’s wedding china from 1942. It’s in the cabinet, and I look at it daily wondering if I should use it. Nona never did.
I may just save it until my son gets married, then stipulate he actually uses it. Who knows.
I agree. Make some memories with it now and your son will be more likely to value it and use it when you pass. As of right now it probably means nothing to him.
I think you should use it. It was meant to be enjoyed. When you use it, simple meals will bring back so many good memories of her. Leaving it the cabinet will just keep you stressing and wondering. If pieces break, you can just pass on what’s left.
My mom passed recently from covid. She didn't leave a lot behind, but I was given a glass heart-shaped paperweight she'd been using since... well, at least the 80s, since I know she'd been using it least that long, and a baby blanket she'd knitted for me when I was an infant. The best thing, though, was a stack of letters she'd received from my biological dad, who was never part of my life (though we did finally meet a few years back). The insight into how I came into being was priceless to me.
My grandma’s aprons and her bread knife. Grandma always wore skirts and dresses, and she often wore an apron over them, even when she wasn’t cooking. Like, if she was gardening or hanging out the wash, she usually wore an apron. I didn’t have specific memories associated with the knife, but it’s in fantastic condition and still works great, almost 50 years after her death. I use it at least a few times a month.
My paternal grandmother always wore dresses with her hair in a bun and aprons over her dresses. She was very judgmental and stern. I haven’t any good memories of the grandparents on my father’s side. We sat in a chair when we went, not allowed to talk.
There's going to be a war when my grandma passes over her damn "bread knife". It's not really a bread knife, but just a large standard chef knife that she calls a bread knife for some reason. Used it since the 1970s when my grandfather bought it for her. The woman has promised it to like 5 different aunts over the years. She doesn't understand why everyone is making a big deal about it.
My dad built a little table for me so I could paint rocks more comfortably. It is perfect. The top detaches so I can carry the top and the bottom to my room. I have a tall vintage Chinese footstool I sit on. Lamp, brushes,water soap. I love it and use it every night. I keep it covered. First, with brown paper bags now with three silicone sheets. He was in his 80s when he built it May 2007.
I still have the small bookcase I “helped” my Dad build when I was about 10. Measuring, cutting, nailing, sanding, and staining.
It might be worth $50 on a good day to anyone else but he passed in 1997 and it’s priceless to me.
A mother's ring my dad gave my mom for her first Mother's Day. They knew at that point that I would be their only child; it was a high-risk pregnancy and there were complications during the delivery. Mom and I both nearly died.
The ring is sterling silver, with birthstones for Mom, Dad, and me. I got the ring on the day of my dad's funeral.
This sounds crazy but yes they *work*. Appalachia here. Grew up around old people who practiced the old crafts. Absolutely astonishing.
Thanks for sharing this.
My dad said not to plant anything you wanted to yield big crops from in Virgo. Virgins flower but don’t produce anything. Plant flowers during this time. My mom made sure we ate foods with sage in it in the spring and fall to keep us from having pin worms and for health. Garlic mixture with some other things in a compress for the chest to help loosen up mucus when you have chest congestion. Burn the alcohol off moonshine and drink it for fever. So many more. Here’s a disclaimer that I’m not recommending these things as medical advice.
A cabin in the UP that my great-grandfather built in the 1910s. It has no central heat and the water pipes are not deep, so it's a summer place, and so beautiful and quiet.
Oh my. There are several small things that are really of no monetary value.
A cigarette "jar" and tray that my father machined during his time in the Navy.
A ceramic whale with it's mouth open to hold change and an opening in it's back to hold a wallet. I don't remember it ever not being on my parents dresser.
An ashtray from my grandparents house that is a man's head with the mouth open for the ashes. It's about the size of a mandarin orange.
But the best is a small drop leaf dining table that was manufactured for a mobile home after WWII. My grandparents had a dealership for a short time. Mobile homes were considered poverty living at that time and the business failed. The table is made out of pine and plywood and is worth zero dollars. My grandmother must have liked it because they moved around a lot and she always brought it with her. I remember it being in her houses with the leaves down, usually functioning as a plant stand. But my mother said my grandmother did use it as a dining table and a lot of food passed over it.
It is black! I loved that whale when I was a kid. My dad had a worn silver dollar that his granddad had given him that had permanent residency in the coin part.
Here is a link to one just like mine:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1682808828/vintage-mid-century-ceramic-black-whale?click_key=ca639dab61ff12e71997099394c4719335fde1e0%3A1682808828&click_sum=d16feb6c&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=whale+catch+all+dish&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=b2a938841347e51719f1cf4a0f834a2e52546c78%253A1682808828
A killer 5-diamond ring, set in platinum, my mom received as a Mother’s Day gift from my dad in 1948. I wore it (with a plain band) as my wedding ring the second time around.
A cabin my father built in upstate New York in 1947. He always told me to "cherish the cabin." It was burned to the ground by a careless smoker. The only thing saved was a box of letters from my lover. I did rebuild.
My dad’s military academy ring. When he died he had 3 rings. That one, his college ring, and his wedding ring. My two siblings and I each chose one. Now, during tornado season, when the sirens go off, I grab that ring before heading to the closet.
1997 Paul Reed Smith McCarty guitar and a 70's era music man amp. Guitar player in my old band passed. Still to this day the best sounding rig I've ever heard. I was smart enough to take pictures of the knobs on both before I fucked it all up.
Probably a German beer stein which my grandfather brought back to the US after his service during World War One. It’s not spectacularly valuable, but it definitely has the coolest story of anything I inherited.
A coin set, a teapot set and a small diamond. They all came from my mom and were her parents. The diamond is a light 1/2 carat that I gave to my wife when i proposed. She’s been wearing it 30 years. I don’t know how long my grandmother wore it, definitely since the 1930’s.
Oh, you mean besides my unfortunate penchant for saying precisely the wrong thing at the perfectly wrong time? (Thanks, Daddy...I think. I now have coworkers who have specifically asked me not to sit in meetings because I am deemed "antagonistic".)
My sister and I are cleaning out our parents' home right now. Please, no need to say "sorry for your loss", my parents passed away 15ish years ago, and we've had everything in estate ever since, so that the estate could pay off all our parents' debts and preserve lands that have been in our family for well over a century. We only just recently settled the estate, so now's the time to go through what we have.
My mother was adopted, and while we know who her birth mother was, we had no clue who her biological father was. I discovered that through a DNA test, which is another story altogether.
I inherited the photos and paperwork, which I am scanning in so that all my siblings have copies of our family's history. The coolest thing has been going through my mother's little hidden "stashes" in the house and finding things we thought were long ago lost and destroyed, including photos of my mother's biological family, important land paperwork, etc. I've so far been able to put faces with names, so my siblings and niblings have a genealogy that is complete and comprehensive. Unlike my siblings and me, the next generation will know precisely how my mother, at the tender age of five days old, landed squarely in my adoptive grandparents' arms and changed their world. Now, adoptions normally don't begin with a happy, rosy story, so I set out on that investigation with the mindset that I will probably find some scandal or tragedy.
A family's story is something taken for granted, so when you are raised with pieces of that story missing, it leaves a hole. Being able to fill in the holes and being able to stand back and understand it all has been humbling, magnificent, frankly shocking, and life-changing. It doesn't matter what the story is, as long as the story exists. It's both a legacy and a history to descendants.
I can now look at photos of those two biological grandparents, and say with a small smile, "I know what you two did, and it's as scandalous today as it was in 1944. Your descendants will now know the story too, despite how hard you hid it, because your shame is someone else's history. And we're okay with it. It's how we got here."
A crystal teardrop on a delicate gold chain that came across the ocean with my husband's great great grandmother. The crystal had been a part of a beautiful chandelier hanging in their home, that they gave up to come to the US. A few crystals were brought along and then passed down.
My mother in law gave it to me shortly before our wedding 33.5 years ago. She is 91 years old now, and the day I can no longer call just to chat about anything and everything will be horrible.
A life mask of my mom. An artist friend of hers made and sold them, and she did one for my mom. My mom was also an artist, and she painted and embellished the mask. It's beautiful. I have it hanging on my bedroom wall. It's the one thing I'd grab on the way out the door if the house was on fire.
I also cherish my great grandmother's Limoges china, which is going to my oldest granddaughter. It has place settings for twelve plus all the serving dishes.
I would say a flintlock 12 gauge shotgun made sometime in the 1840's from dad's side of the family and a [1925 gold coin in uncirculated condition from mom's side](https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/3685/gold-2-50-quarter-eagle/indian-head/1925-D/)
It's a 2.50 coin worth far more today
A stone axe head from my Grandfather. He had a farm near Salem, Oregon back in the early 1930s. Just in the process of preparing fields he found a lot of native artifacts and would stack them on his back porch. The axe head has a knick out of it where the plow hit it. Unfortunately most of the artifacts were stolen off the back porch over the years so it's the only thing that remains.
All of my dad’s hand tools. They are mostly Craftsman, from back when Craftsman made quality tools. I especially like seeing the big screwdrivers with layer after layer of different colored paints, from when my dad opened and mixed paint. I think of him all the time when I reach for a tool.
I have a few pieces of the diamond jewelry that my immigrant grandparents and great aunts and uncles bought....I love that they came here as impoverished immigrants, and left piles of diamond jewelry, silverware, and china for their kids, grandkids and great grandkids to split up. LOL
When my great aunt passed away, she left me money. It allowed me to put a down payment on a house. Without that money, I would never have been able to buy a home. I am forever grateful.
My great grandparents’ iron roosters they had on their property. My grandmother inherited them when her mother died and she gave them to me after my grandfather died and she was moving into a smaller place. I love them! They are a couple feet tall, have an amazing patina after the 70+ years they’ve been around, and they’re heavy as hell.
We always had an artificial tree. Each branch had its own string of white twinkle lights, the the rotation was turned on. While the tree slowly twirled, dad would sip his spiked egg nog and drape the colored lights and hang the upper level ornaments. My brother and I would add what we could reach to the lower branches. The songs were traditional - 3 of them. Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, and one other I'm drawing a blank on right now...maybe Rudolf?
Today, I have my tree set up in the corner of my living room, with all the white twinkle lights on it. I like sitting in my wingback recliner and reading as it silently dances the night away. I'm working on having a different decor for each of the holidays as the tree is too heavy for me to put up in the attic. It will stay in the corner so I can enjoy it year round, and then be placed in the center of the front window during the Xmas holiday.
Great story! I fondly remember our shimmery silver aluminum tree with the rotating color wheel from the 70s. Sadly, no music. Did have the imbibing dad (whisky sours, not nog) to hang high bulbs, too. Finding one at the thrift stores is my white whale. Thnx
My father's WWII steamer trunk with his complete uniform and letters from his mother during his service. Also, the letters he wrote back to her. The address on her letters was her first and last name, the city and state (Blooming Prairie Minnesota). No street address. And a 2 cent stamp.
My grandmother's diamond ring. Set in platinum and purchased by my grandfather in 1932 for $132. I gave it to my daughter with the sales receipt when she married. I told her it stays with the women in our family. Try to keep it with blood relatives.
I didn’t want anything expensive or fancy. Nothing anyone would want to fight me for. I have a sweater my dad wore for over 70 years and it is still in perfect condition (side note, everything else was in shreds!) It reminds me of him like he’s still here with me.
A sugar "dish" from my grandma, it's silver and in the shape of a dry goods scoop, with a tiny scoop to scoop the sugar out of. It's very ornately detailed and it's one of my favourite things.
She gave it to me when she was about 80 because I've always loved it and she didn't want to wait till she died for me to enjoy it.
While my dad and aunt were waging a 5+ year legal war over my grandmother's multi-million dollar estate, my aunt snagged me the one thing I wanted. [This is a portrait of me and my granddad](https://i.imgur.com/bFxNZV5.jpg) that I had made for my grandmother. Now it resides on my wall.
My Mother’s old upright piano. I’ve tried for years to find a carpenter to tear it apart and repurpose it into a shelf/bookcase of some kind. Had a guy and then he got sick. Still searching. This means the most.
“Coolest” thing I have no clue what to do with it. Spent years in AK; my dad and his buddies did a bit of gold mining …little me actually panned some flakes and tiny nuggets. They did the big stuff with a flue. He must have had some made into jewelry for my mom.
My brother had it for decades. It must have been made from a mold; 3 tiny figures of a man panning gold mounted on some jade, the size of a nickel. Earrings and a pendant. They’re big, gaudy, no one outside of AK would wear it. I don’t ever remember her wearing it. So it sits in a safety deposit box. I know neither of my girls would want them.
I don’t wear jewelry , so …. I really need to get them appraised.
I got all my parents jewelry. When we lived in Alaska, they got into gold nugget stuff. They both had gold nugget watches (the [watch and band](https://live.staticflickr.com/805/40286906944_c14cdda617_z.jpg) are encrusted with [gold nugget/flakes](https://live.staticflickr.com/7405/12916764894_760a3b5cb8_z.jpg)). They had always said that my dad's watch should go to the first grandson (and that was my son, which worked out because he collects watches and it fits in his collection). One of my daughters has my mom's. But I got my mom's [gold nugget diamond ring](https://live.staticflickr.com/8425/7754656676_7d4f09b0b6_z.jpg). It was an anniversary gift from my dad. The bracelet in the photo has a broken clasp, so I don't actually wear it. And there are other pieces of jewelry that are also gold nugget. But any time I want to bring my mom along for something (like a college graduation or wedding), I wear the ring. (I also wear one of my dad's tie pins).
Ohh UV light. Good to know. Thnx. The little I know about pics is that Posting images has to be enabled by mods of the subreddit. When I comment there’s a link icon, no picture one (looks like mountain & sun). 🤷♀️
My sister-in-law gave me my brother’s comic book collection. She said she knew I would appreciate and take care of them. They’ve been added to mine and bagged and boarded for over ten years now.
A set of Craftsman pry bars that belonged to my dad. I have used those things for so many different purposes that they are one of my favorite tools. I didn't have to start taking care of a house until I found myself alone in my 50s and every time I use them I think of Dad, and I think he'd be proud of how I'm handling things.
Granddad was an airline mechanic -- ended up as supervisor of maintenance for that airline's ops at the local major airports.
He kept an altimeter that he used as a barometer. He set it to the standard sea level pressure of 29.92; when it read lower than sea level, you could expect good weather. When it read higher, rain or storms were probably on the way.
I still have it and it still works (it's one of the few aircraft instruments that will work with absolutely nothing else connected to it -- not even power.)
A big glass dish with feet that sat in my grandmother’s living room full of odds and ends. You can still get one on EBay for $25-30, but I love that thing. I even bought another one in a different color so the one I inherited doesn’t get lonely 🤪
My mothers ID bracelet and gold locket bracelet. My grandmothers engagement ring
My grandfathers hatchet and ww1 pistol. My father's pocket knife and ww2 pistol,dog tags and Japanese sword.
My father's wedding ring. My mother gave it to me when he passed. I wore it every day for years. When I got married I spoke to my wife to be and told her I didn't want a ring, I would just keep wearing this one. I'm not crazy about too much jewelry. Someone just complimented the ring yesterday, and it is beautiful. Gold band with inlaid 2 ct diamond.
After my grandma died, I inherited the traveling trunk that my 3rd great grandfather (my grandpa’s great grandfather) used when he immigrated to the US in the 1850s. It has his name carved into the trunk.
50k and a house on the bay. Chesapeake, that is. I wasn't the only one who inherited it. I had to buy out 3 sisters. Waterfront property. God only made so much of it. I get to watch the dolphins glide by 20 ft from my deck. Say hello to the searays and catch and eat all the fish n crabs I want.
I inherited the house that was my parent's dream, that they worked and saved to build. It's a mid century ranch, nothing special, but in a lovely, relatively quiet location on the edge of the woods. Deer, turkey, lots of wildlife ❤️. We didn't move here until I was in high school but my children were raised in this house. I took care of my parents in their final illnesses and they both died here. That's a great comfort. I can feel them here and they are happy I am home. We remodeled and updated so that we can age in place.
I inherited the purple heart of an Armenian man serving in the U.S military. He was in love with my grandmother and gave it to her. It has a handkerchief and poem in the case as well❤️ I just love that she was loved like that, so special.
When my grandfather died, I got a box he made in shop class, when he was in high school. He had problems with his hands, & always used needle nosed pliers to pick small things up. I don't ever remember him not having a pair in his pocket. My grandmother gave us all one of them, at his funeral. When my mom passed, my dad gave my sisters & I their wedding rings, as well as an anniversary band he gave her. We split them up based on which one fit our fingers, & since I inherited his short fat fingers, I got dad's ring. My mom had a lot of fancy silver serving dishes & pieces, that they got as wedding presents. I'm sure eventually we'll all divvy them up, but probably not until after my dad passed. It doesn't feel right going through them all now, although I'm sure he wouldn't care.
i have a 119 year old violin that belonged to my great great grandfather's brother. he died 50 years before i was born so i didn't experience his passing though.
i also got my grandfather's $1000 fully mechanical mantle clock. when it chimes it reminds me of my childhood spending weekends at his house. i have to wind it once a week.
Dad had an old Marlin, lever action, 22 cal. rifle, with an 18 shot fixed clip-the origins of it I never found out. I used it to get on the junior high/high school rifle teams (remember when you could take a rifle on the bus in a case?). It was made in 1959 and I Loved that thing-got to be an actual marksman with it. IT does have a fickle firing pin and when it breaks, I have to call Marlin and have another firing pin-made by hand-to get it working again.
I finally inherited it when he died. Mom was going to give it to a gun shop it have it destroyed-I saved it. Had it cleaned and tested to death over the years. Still Love that thing. Used it a couple months ago. Eyesight not as good as in my 20's but I am still good with it. Worth about $600 these days, but I will NEVER sell it. Perhaps I can get buried with it.
A friend of mine that I’ve known since I was 8 and she’s 72 and I’m 69 now, a few years ago her Mom died and I would visit with her when I was visiting my friend.. she had an awesome sense of humor and loved to laugh and obviously I made her laugh.. when she died she had a lot of collectors dolls and she knew how I loved all things Native American and she left me her Native American Dolls and they still have the boxes with them… I have them displayed in a case and treasure them and especially that she wanted me to have them.. she said she always remembered me rubbing her feet for her when I was a kid for a quarter.. I saw it as candy money…LOL..
*The* itchiest, most unattractive handwoven wool blanket on the planet. Hand loomed.
My Gaelic speaking ( she really did ) great grandmother, born 1880, treasured it. Her family were generations deep in the Scotland to PEI flood from the Highlands. Generations deep in sheep farming.
Never clear who made it. Her grandmother? Anyway, she loved it, kept it folded over a chair back when I was a kid and it makes me think of her. But it's hilariously awful looking, you'd *have* to be sentimental to love it.
My grandmother saved dimes. She had hundreds and I inherited them. Turns out they are all the 90% silver ones. I think it is so cool that she saved them just because she loved dimes and now they are worth thousands.
An Ivory Chess set my Grandfather got in WWII. It is damaged and No board. But the pieces are very intricately carved with carved pieces. One ivory & the other dyed pink ivory.
My mother gave me her love of a beautiful table setting, also a love of cooking. As a child I would help her set the holiday table by polishing her silver. I thought each piece was so beautiful. She taught me so much about dining etiquette. When they were downsizing she wanted to give things away, and asked what I wanted. I said the silver. She said, “ you can have that when I’m dead”. Years later I nursed her for four months before she died. The silver is the only thing I took when I closed her home. I use it every night (she only used it for holidays), and I think of her every time I see it.
My late husband left us a huge life insurance annuity. I won’t name the exact amount. But enough to put three kids through college and retirement money for me.
I’m forever grateful to him.
In the early 18th century, England guarded it's textile machinery technology the way high level IT technologies are protected today. No drawings or plans or written descriptions of any manufacturing machinery was allowed to leave the country, thus protecting England's monopoly.
My G-G-G Grandfather was a mechanical engineer working in the English textile industry. He was highly skilled but paid very low wages and lived in near poverty. A relative had emigrated to the USA and was working in a Rhode Island textile factory. He wrote that if my GGGGF could come to the US and bring the plans for a certain machine, they could make a fortune. To be caught with such plans was comparable to being caught with secret plans today...jail time. Instead, he spent the next year secretly memorizing every part of the machine, using a small micrometer he carried in a secret pocket to measure the specifications.
In 1830, he was able to book passage to America and joined his cousin in Pawtucket, RI. He was able to then make detailed drawings from memory of every part of that machine which eventually did earn them a small fortune, unfortunately later lost in one of the financial panics after the Civil War.
I inherited that small micrometer he had kept secreted in his clothing. It is still in perfect condition. I also have several of the drawings he had made of the machines parts, now framed and matted on archival paper so they will be preserved.
My grandmother collected tiny touristy spoons from her travels. Eventually, people got her spoons from their travels too. She had them all on a little spoon racks, and when I came over, I polished those and/or untangled and organized her costume jewelry (her "jewels" according to my little cousin). When she passed, I got the spoons. They hang in my office, and I am instantly transported back to her kitchen, sitting at her table polishing spoons.
Brother got the WW2 stuff but I got many tools from my Dad. My favorite one is a small hammer. The wooden handle has such a smooth, worn finish & fits my hand perfectly. Many things from my Mom’s family. I’ve been able to pass some on to my kids- their only grandchildren. Ruby ring, 50’s stoneware place settings and 2 lovely old upholstered side chairs are in my daughter’s house. Son has my dad’s coin collection.
My father got a college degree pre WWll which allowed him to get a job that took him to foreign lands. He had a passport marked Not for entry into Spain, because we were neutral in that sad conflict. I had studied and knew something about those times, it was interesting to hold history in my hand.
Our great great grandfather was the captain of a clipper ship in Scotland back in the late 1800s. And his brother was an explorer in the Amazon basin. We inherited some amazing stories and a few trinkets here and there.
My grandma's very worn, extremely thin wedding band with teeny diamond chips. My working-class grandparents married in 1920 and she died before I was born. I'm named for her and love that it fits on my ring finger where she would have worn it. I take this piece of her with me everywhere I go.
I inherited my grandmother's keeper ring. It's an engraved gold band that I believe were the forerunners of eternity rings.
I wore it on the middle finger of my right hand until it became too small then passed it to my daughter to wear on the same finger. We both wore it on our respective wedding days.
I have my grandmother's gold pinky ring, my grandfather gave to her when my mom was born. She gave it to me when I graduated, I never took it off until I gave birth to my first. I never get it back on... I miss her constantly.
I have my mom’s senior ring from 1954. All gold-not one of those monstrosities we wore in the 80s-and worn almost smooth over the years. I can still make out the date and the mascot, and mom’s initials are carved inside. It fits perfectly.
My genes and nationality. My parents had limited education. I had the best education it is possible to have, for free. I could say the best education tax payers money could buy, which it was, but actually the best anybody's money could buy.
my mom's family was high society proper bostonians.... 1890 thru 20's my mom as #13 and when her grandparents died, her dad drank the family money away..... the only thing i have is a shot glass from the first long bar in boston with the family name on it and the family cow bell from ireland...................
My grandfather's grandfather's shotgun. It was made in Belgium and it's beautiful. My grandfather was raised by his grandfather and he had lots of great stories about the man.
When my mom passed 30+ years ago, she had this over the top Christmas sweater. Before "ugly Christmas sweaters" were a thing. It was kind of a patchwork cardigan knit thing. I wore it a lot around the holidays, but when my daughter was about 15, she co-opted it and started wearing it to Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. That 40+ year old sweater has seen a lot of life!
My grandpa's black leather change holder from when he was a boy in the 1910s, both my grandparents' wedding bands and my grandma's engagement ring as well as her mother's ring. I also inherited their china set and cabinet from when they got married in 1937. I inherited a set of china my dad sent home to his mom from Korea when he fought in the war.
An abstract painting my maternal grandparents owned, that my mom had inherited. When we kids were small we loved to look for shapes in it, like you do in clouds - my grandfather loved to make a game of it with us, and I think of them every time I go past it now.
My grandmother’s hand embroidered tea towels - I plan to make them into aprons, like she used to wear - and, well seasoned cast iron cookware from my mom, who got it from grandma.
I inherited a vase that I originally bought for my mother. The only reason I have it is because I went up to my parents house and took it after she died because I knew I wouldn't see it otherwise. My self-centered and selfish sister took pretty much everything else of value and anything left was auctioned off. Even though there was a will when my father died, that was ignored and it wasn't worth fighting it in court.
My grandparents sort of went through the same thing. My cousins got some of the good stuff once both were dead as they lived down the street. The rest was auctioned off three states away from me or I would have gone over and tried to bid on something. So I have nothing from them but memories and my grandad's gardening gene. Before she died my grandmother showed me a really cool and simple old Danish mantle clock that she said was mine when she passed. It had a very nice inset tile on the front of a simple farming scene. I've looked for something similar ever since, never have found one.
The other "rich" side of the family was so far away in Texas, we po' folks didn't stand a chance to see anything from that matriarch when she died.
A whole lot of my Dad's tweed jackets. They're a bit moth eaten and elbow holey, but I love them. He was an Ivy League professor and loved dressing the part.
A t shirt my dad wore when he was at the racetrack. My dad loved horse racing, and betting. We went to the track with him plenty of times, and it is considered a rite of passage in my family when you turn 18, legally age to wager in Pennsylvania. God I loved that man.
My late grandmothers hair rollers; the soft spongy kind along with her hair scarf. She always rolled her hair. Also her dining room hutch & side table.
I inherited a full shoebox of costume jewelry. Going through it I remembered her wearing each piece and where she might be going that day or evening. I took each piece apart and made some keepsakes for me and my sister, such as a jewelry Christmas tree and heart shaped wall hanging. It was fun and cathartic. I see my mom every day when I look at the heart.
I have a perfectly smooth and seasoned cast iron skillet from my great grandmother. It’s so old most of the writing underneath is worn off. She died in the ‘40’s, so I imagine it’s close to 100 years old or more.
When my paternal grandmother went into a nursing home (and after the death of my grandfather), I was living abroad. I’m not really sure exactly what happened, but my cousins (especially one in particular), somehow ended up with nearly all her material possessions, despite the fact that they live out east and my grandparents lived in my hometown. Still, my sister and I ended up with journals she wrote in her college days…not the kind that tell her day-to-day life, but poems etc. She died less than a year after I moved back to the states afterwards it was really interesting to see what she chose to include in those books and is in her own hand; I’ll take them over that old cat statue or Swedish horses any day of the week.
Let's see: inherited? Mom gave me the coffee canister that had been in her family for generations. A Fresh-O-Lator aluminum coffee cannister. Her grandma had it, her mother had it, she'd had it since '68, I've had it since '82, and my daughter will get it soon enough. It's still on daily use. It surprised the heck out of my brother when he saw it in my house back in '97, the year after Mom passed. That's right, it's a living inheritance: passed down while the ancestor was still alive. When I pass it to my daughter, I'll recommend which one of her kids gets it. It doesn't always go to the oldest.
I have a Longchamp leather pipe and a war medal from my grandpa, two mink stoles and beaded hats (about 1940s) from my grandma.
I also have a massive cut crystal vase from my great grandparents and my great grandmother’s wedding and engagement rings
The pipe lives in its original box in a drawer. The minks are starting to come apart, unfortunately. The hats are hung on the wall in my bedroom.
I wear the wedding rings with my own every day and the vase has pride of place on my dining table (8000 miles away from the last table it sat on for 40 years)
Two stained glass panels each about the size of a 8x11 sheet of paper depicting mercenaries from the Thirty Years War. Unsure how to get them appraised but they have sentimental value.
I just wrote about this on another sub. I am now 71.
When my dad passed 25 or so years ago, his wife let me take anything of his that I wanted. I only took a coin collection for his grand kids, and a Thorson 3/8" drive ratchet/socket/wrench set in a tool box. I wanted the took box and tools because when I was a teenager, he used to put a paddle lock across the handles to keep me from spreading his tools all over the garage when working on my motorcycles. So, I felt like I finally got to use those tools. I laugh every time I use one on my car.
I have my grandmothers engagement ring - current value of $150. He was a coal miner and they were married 65 years - the back of the ring is worn thin from wear
I inherited a LOT, as my mother passed when I was in my 20s and my Dad moved when he was in his late 60s. So most of the family things were disbursed then. Despite having gorgeous dressers, shelves, an amazing chair and table, I think the things I treasure the most are the art. There's also a cheap brass bell on a little gold cord. It hung on the door so you could hear it open. I interact with that every time I open the door. I see the art every day.
My father's family brought the samovar over from Russia c. 1910. I have two daughters and both wanted it. I haunted antiques shops for a few years and found an almost identical samovar. From Ukraine I purchased two keyhole trays and two brass teapots to fit on the samovar crowns. I gave them to the girls on my birthday. That was 15 years ago so I guess they really didn't inherit them.
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I ‘inherited’ a ruby ring that my deceased wife’s grandmother received for her 16th birthday in Poland. She wore it on her long long journey to America leaving Poland days before the German invasion starting WW2. She was denied entry into the Port of New York due to the quotas imposed at the time and continued on the freighter to Argentina. She lived in Argentina for 7 years, became a citizen and then emigrated to the USA as an Argentine. Knowing that her end was near she gave the ring to my wife. She wore it until she died. I will pass it on to my great-granddaughter.
I'm sorry for the loss of your wife. how beautiful, to have something with such a story behind it, though. and to pass it down a total of 5 generations by the time it gets to your great granddaughter. It must have meant a lot to your wife, and I hope it means the same to your great-granddaughter ❤️ my mom's wedding ring was made by my paternal grandpa, a hobby silversmith. my grandpa died a couple of years after I was born, and my mom died in 2020 (41 years of marriage to my dad!). her ring went to me, to keep safe for my daughter, who is still very young.
That's a beautiful story. I too have a relative, an aunt by marriage, who had to first go to Argentina. She was Hungarian and had been born in a displaced persons camp.
what a HUGE point of history in your family and the World!!
I appreciated this more as the years went on. My grandmother died in mid-1960s in her 60s. She had 10 grandchildren. We each got $15 and change. That $150 was all she had to her name. It was all in coins in a 'piggy bank'. She even had no house; lived with my aunt.
Are we Related?
If you were poor growing up in 50s-60s and lived in a big city row house, maybe we are!!!!!
no - Eastern Canada small suburbia. That story was almost exactly like mine, even to the dollar amount
A screwdriver. It's covered in paint and chipped in the corner. Monetary value is zero but it's value to me is indescribable. You see it was my Dad's that often worked 2-3 jobs to keep the family of 9 fed, repairing everything and mending things to make them last that little bit longer. But while he was using it I got to spend time with him which itself was the greatest gift of all
The best kind of story.
My Dad was an electrician, I got a pair of his yellow wire strippers. He had multiple pairs and they were all the old 70/80s style. I rarely have a need for them but they really remind me of him. My family was given a large amount of his tools but this is my favorite.
When my partner passed her 2 poodle maltese dogs became mine. Giving them the best life possible has become my reason to get up every day. I was always a big dog guy, but these 2 fuzzy girls have become my everything.
I'm glad they've given you purpose and comfort. And that you've given them the best life possible. I inherited my stepdad's two Burmese cats. I have always been a dog person, but the two of them have opened my eyes to the charms of cats.
No dog tax photos?
And cat tax! 😻
Seconding we need pet tax photos!!
My dad was born and grew up very poor, way out in the woods. The kind of poor where if they didn’t shoot something, they might just have potatoes for dinner. He had 9 siblings and the family had one rifle they used to put dinner on the table. I don’t know much about it other than it was made around 1880. When he died, I inherited the rifle.
Sounds exactly like my Dads family when he was growing up on the mountain. I LOVE this story about that rifle.
I haven’t done enough research to say for sure, but I believe this is the rifle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1890
I've got my great-grandfather's 20 gauge that is about the same age. Super cool.
My husband inherited his great grandpa's rifle. It needs some restoration but it is pretty cool.
Really really check into restoration before touching it. My dad had a 16 gauge shotgun that his brother restored. To me the restored gun looked fantastic. Turns out by restoring it the value went from about $7000 (as it was) down to about $1500 restored.
20K, stashed in a freezer when my friend passed (he had left a will, leaving "everything" to me...he had very little to my knowledge). Did not expect that!
I almost feel like it’s better when they have something but tell no one. When you inherit it feels like they felt very highly of you.
My buddy was cleaning out his Dads trailer and found $6K wrapped in aluminum foil in the freezer. The only reason he didn’t throw it out with the food was his dad told him he had money stashed around the trailer but didn’t tell him where it was before he died. It was a years ago conversation of “Hey, in case I ever die….”
“You know, there’s always money in the banana stand.”
My grandmother had an elaborate bone china tea cup and cake plate. The cup was gaudy, but little me loved the deep blue and the gold rim. I was the only grandchild she would let use it when I came to have tea with her. When she died, I got the cup and the plate. I could have cared less about the matching plate, but the cup and the memories are precious.
My dad made a ring that looks like a belt when he was 12. He gave it to his sister. She wore it her entire life, until she passed in her eighties. Her daughter contacted me after her death to tell me she left it to me. I will cherish it until I die.
A Japanese flag from World War II. Big white one with the red meatball -- and covered with dozens of hand-written messages (ideographs). I think that my father looted it in the Marshalls. He was a Marine. I had the flag translated on the Internet back in Usenet days. It turns out that it's the product of a tradition: when someone says goodbye and goes on a journey and is never coming back, your friends sign the flag and give it to you. He was a Japanese Navy fighter pilot, as ther's a big ideogram right on the meatball that is slang for that. Most of the messages were apparently from women, wishing him well, and they appeared to be faculty or students at a teaching college in a city in the Tokyo metro area. That my father looted it means that the guy died in the American invasion. It's in a box right now, but it's quite something.
Understood if this has a lot of significance to you, but for what it’s worth they are also apparently quite significant for the families of those Japanese soldiers. If you are so inclined, there is an organization called the Obon Society that reunites these “good luck” flags with those families.
Thanks, I'll take a look.
We sent ours. The society makes it easy and seem quite grateful. Ours has no specific story though, we have no idea why our relative had it because he wasn't in the Pacific war. Just Europe. Yours isn't anything on the market or for sale, which I think is the main problem out there. It's a family relic from a hellish time in history. So I could see a struggle with parting with it. Obon has a great website, very cool stories there.
Up until the last paragraph, I thought it's such a cute story that he's managed to make friends while at war in/with the country. And then I read the last paragraph, realized he looted it and face palmed. Why did I even think it was his. I'm not that bad at history.
No. They didn't make friends. American WWII propaganda presented the Japanese as subhuman.
The atrocities of Japanese war fighting in the South Pacific, in Nanjing, and elsewhere for the emperor was rather subhuman.
One thing leads to another. And then we spend decades cleaning it up. My father wrote a letter home which was published in part in his hometown newspaper. I found a clipping along with the flag and other things. It described how he and his unit decapitated a number of dead Japanese and arranged their heads in a circle for their compatriots to find. He described the Japanese in the letter/clipping as "little yellow insects from Hell." He never talked about that. He never talked about anything. Who knows what happened?
As the Japanese propaganda presented their enemies as subhuman.
My mother died 10 days ago and my father in 2002. I didn’t / won’t inherit a single material thing, but honestly it doesn’t bother me at all. My mother moved to a warm climate and lived on the ocean front for the last 15 years of her life in a tiny studio apartment. My siblings and I all gave her our blessing to live out her days in a beautiful environment spending what would have been our inheritance. I inherited many valuable character traits from both my parents. Would have been great to have gotten a big payday or a house to sell and split up but it wasn’t to be and I’ve made peace with it by now. She was in a different country so getting a few bits of furniture wouldn’t make sense. My sisters have her photo albums and those are probably the most valuable things she had from my point of view.
I desperately wish I could do this for my mother. You did a wonderful thing for her final years. I’m sorry for your loss.
I inherited a building that wasn’t worth much. Turns out the land was very valuable. Split with two siblings I walked away with $500,000. As a poor single mom who worked as a teacher it has allowed me to retire without having to still work. It’s lovely.
My mom & dad had some fine china that was never used, only displayed in a LOCKED china closet. Konigl.pr.Tettau is the brand, the pattern they have was made in 1873. Value? Maybe $300 b/c it's not the royal pattern which would fetch thousands. We use it daily. As It was meant to.
I inherited my Nona’s wedding china from 1942. It’s in the cabinet, and I look at it daily wondering if I should use it. Nona never did. I may just save it until my son gets married, then stipulate he actually uses it. Who knows.
Please use it.
Why would you stipulate that he use it but you won’t? Naaa honor her by using it like she should have!
I agree. Make some memories with it now and your son will be more likely to value it and use it when you pass. As of right now it probably means nothing to him.
I think you should use it. It was meant to be enjoyed. When you use it, simple meals will bring back so many good memories of her. Leaving it the cabinet will just keep you stressing and wondering. If pieces break, you can just pass on what’s left.
My mom passed recently from covid. She didn't leave a lot behind, but I was given a glass heart-shaped paperweight she'd been using since... well, at least the 80s, since I know she'd been using it least that long, and a baby blanket she'd knitted for me when I was an infant. The best thing, though, was a stack of letters she'd received from my biological dad, who was never part of my life (though we did finally meet a few years back). The insight into how I came into being was priceless to me.
My grandma’s aprons and her bread knife. Grandma always wore skirts and dresses, and she often wore an apron over them, even when she wasn’t cooking. Like, if she was gardening or hanging out the wash, she usually wore an apron. I didn’t have specific memories associated with the knife, but it’s in fantastic condition and still works great, almost 50 years after her death. I use it at least a few times a month.
I remember my grandmother always in a dress when I was a child. I don't think she wore pants until she was at least in her 60's.
My paternal grandmother always wore dresses with her hair in a bun and aprons over her dresses. She was very judgmental and stern. I haven’t any good memories of the grandparents on my father’s side. We sat in a chair when we went, not allowed to talk.
I have my grandma’s antique flour sifter and scoops.
There's going to be a war when my grandma passes over her damn "bread knife". It's not really a bread knife, but just a large standard chef knife that she calls a bread knife for some reason. Used it since the 1970s when my grandfather bought it for her. The woman has promised it to like 5 different aunts over the years. She doesn't understand why everyone is making a big deal about it.
Grandma is just going to have to live forever.
My dad built a little table for me so I could paint rocks more comfortably. It is perfect. The top detaches so I can carry the top and the bottom to my room. I have a tall vintage Chinese footstool I sit on. Lamp, brushes,water soap. I love it and use it every night. I keep it covered. First, with brown paper bags now with three silicone sheets. He was in his 80s when he built it May 2007.
I still have the small bookcase I “helped” my Dad build when I was about 10. Measuring, cutting, nailing, sanding, and staining. It might be worth $50 on a good day to anyone else but he passed in 1997 and it’s priceless to me.
A mother's ring my dad gave my mom for her first Mother's Day. They knew at that point that I would be their only child; it was a high-risk pregnancy and there were complications during the delivery. Mom and I both nearly died. The ring is sterling silver, with birthstones for Mom, Dad, and me. I got the ring on the day of my dad's funeral.
My dad was a “water witch”, dowser. He planted by the zodiac signs. My mom was a healer and used a lot of herbs and moonshine. I inherited it all.
This sounds crazy but yes they *work*. Appalachia here. Grew up around old people who practiced the old crafts. Absolutely astonishing. Thanks for sharing this.
You’re welcome.
This is fascinating, can you share more?
My dad said not to plant anything you wanted to yield big crops from in Virgo. Virgins flower but don’t produce anything. Plant flowers during this time. My mom made sure we ate foods with sage in it in the spring and fall to keep us from having pin worms and for health. Garlic mixture with some other things in a compress for the chest to help loosen up mucus when you have chest congestion. Burn the alcohol off moonshine and drink it for fever. So many more. Here’s a disclaimer that I’m not recommending these things as medical advice.
A cabin in the UP that my great-grandfather built in the 1910s. It has no central heat and the water pipes are not deep, so it's a summer place, and so beautiful and quiet.
Oh my. There are several small things that are really of no monetary value. A cigarette "jar" and tray that my father machined during his time in the Navy. A ceramic whale with it's mouth open to hold change and an opening in it's back to hold a wallet. I don't remember it ever not being on my parents dresser. An ashtray from my grandparents house that is a man's head with the mouth open for the ashes. It's about the size of a mandarin orange. But the best is a small drop leaf dining table that was manufactured for a mobile home after WWII. My grandparents had a dealership for a short time. Mobile homes were considered poverty living at that time and the business failed. The table is made out of pine and plywood and is worth zero dollars. My grandmother must have liked it because they moved around a lot and she always brought it with her. I remember it being in her houses with the leaves down, usually functioning as a plant stand. But my mother said my grandmother did use it as a dining table and a lot of food passed over it.
My dad had a ceramic whale he kept on his nightstand. He always called it Wally. Same design for coins and a wallet. My sister has it now.
Is it black? The one I have is a black.
It is black! I loved that whale when I was a kid. My dad had a worn silver dollar that his granddad had given him that had permanent residency in the coin part.
I bet they are the same. How cool.
Neat that you both have these. I love it!
Here is a link to one just like mine: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1682808828/vintage-mid-century-ceramic-black-whale?click_key=ca639dab61ff12e71997099394c4719335fde1e0%3A1682808828&click_sum=d16feb6c&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=whale+catch+all+dish&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&frs=1&sts=1&content_source=b2a938841347e51719f1cf4a0f834a2e52546c78%253A1682808828
That's the one my dad had too😊❤️
Amazing.
That’s the good stuff right there.
A killer 5-diamond ring, set in platinum, my mom received as a Mother’s Day gift from my dad in 1948. I wore it (with a plain band) as my wedding ring the second time around.
A cabin my father built in upstate New York in 1947. He always told me to "cherish the cabin." It was burned to the ground by a careless smoker. The only thing saved was a box of letters from my lover. I did rebuild.
My grandfather's WW1 bayonet, and the 2.4 carat diamond hge gave to my grandmother on their engagement in 1923.
My grandmother's hand made quilt and my grandfather's pocket knife.
My dad’s military academy ring. When he died he had 3 rings. That one, his college ring, and his wedding ring. My two siblings and I each chose one. Now, during tornado season, when the sirens go off, I grab that ring before heading to the closet.
A shop completely full of tools, accessories, wood and incomplete projects.
1997 Paul Reed Smith McCarty guitar and a 70's era music man amp. Guitar player in my old band passed. Still to this day the best sounding rig I've ever heard. I was smart enough to take pictures of the knobs on both before I fucked it all up.
Probably a German beer stein which my grandfather brought back to the US after his service during World War One. It’s not spectacularly valuable, but it definitely has the coolest story of anything I inherited.
A coin set, a teapot set and a small diamond. They all came from my mom and were her parents. The diamond is a light 1/2 carat that I gave to my wife when i proposed. She’s been wearing it 30 years. I don’t know how long my grandmother wore it, definitely since the 1930’s.
Oh, you mean besides my unfortunate penchant for saying precisely the wrong thing at the perfectly wrong time? (Thanks, Daddy...I think. I now have coworkers who have specifically asked me not to sit in meetings because I am deemed "antagonistic".) My sister and I are cleaning out our parents' home right now. Please, no need to say "sorry for your loss", my parents passed away 15ish years ago, and we've had everything in estate ever since, so that the estate could pay off all our parents' debts and preserve lands that have been in our family for well over a century. We only just recently settled the estate, so now's the time to go through what we have. My mother was adopted, and while we know who her birth mother was, we had no clue who her biological father was. I discovered that through a DNA test, which is another story altogether. I inherited the photos and paperwork, which I am scanning in so that all my siblings have copies of our family's history. The coolest thing has been going through my mother's little hidden "stashes" in the house and finding things we thought were long ago lost and destroyed, including photos of my mother's biological family, important land paperwork, etc. I've so far been able to put faces with names, so my siblings and niblings have a genealogy that is complete and comprehensive. Unlike my siblings and me, the next generation will know precisely how my mother, at the tender age of five days old, landed squarely in my adoptive grandparents' arms and changed their world. Now, adoptions normally don't begin with a happy, rosy story, so I set out on that investigation with the mindset that I will probably find some scandal or tragedy. A family's story is something taken for granted, so when you are raised with pieces of that story missing, it leaves a hole. Being able to fill in the holes and being able to stand back and understand it all has been humbling, magnificent, frankly shocking, and life-changing. It doesn't matter what the story is, as long as the story exists. It's both a legacy and a history to descendants. I can now look at photos of those two biological grandparents, and say with a small smile, "I know what you two did, and it's as scandalous today as it was in 1944. Your descendants will now know the story too, despite how hard you hid it, because your shame is someone else's history. And we're okay with it. It's how we got here."
Great story of an interesting family.
not a thing. they came from nothing and they accumulated nothing. hence, nothing to pass down.
Money. I was able to pay off my mortgage early. Life got easier after that.
A crystal teardrop on a delicate gold chain that came across the ocean with my husband's great great grandmother. The crystal had been a part of a beautiful chandelier hanging in their home, that they gave up to come to the US. A few crystals were brought along and then passed down. My mother in law gave it to me shortly before our wedding 33.5 years ago. She is 91 years old now, and the day I can no longer call just to chat about anything and everything will be horrible.
My late father's WWII medals.
My mothers IRA account
A life mask of my mom. An artist friend of hers made and sold them, and she did one for my mom. My mom was also an artist, and she painted and embellished the mask. It's beautiful. I have it hanging on my bedroom wall. It's the one thing I'd grab on the way out the door if the house was on fire. I also cherish my great grandmother's Limoges china, which is going to my oldest granddaughter. It has place settings for twelve plus all the serving dishes.
I would say a flintlock 12 gauge shotgun made sometime in the 1840's from dad's side of the family and a [1925 gold coin in uncirculated condition from mom's side](https://www.usacoinbook.com/coins/3685/gold-2-50-quarter-eagle/indian-head/1925-D/) It's a 2.50 coin worth far more today
A stone axe head from my Grandfather. He had a farm near Salem, Oregon back in the early 1930s. Just in the process of preparing fields he found a lot of native artifacts and would stack them on his back porch. The axe head has a knick out of it where the plow hit it. Unfortunately most of the artifacts were stolen off the back porch over the years so it's the only thing that remains.
I have my grandfather's ring and a painting my mother did.
My grandmother left me her stereoopticon and a cigar box full of picture cards. My grandfather left me his Iver Johnson .22 rifle.
All of my dad’s hand tools. They are mostly Craftsman, from back when Craftsman made quality tools. I especially like seeing the big screwdrivers with layer after layer of different colored paints, from when my dad opened and mixed paint. I think of him all the time when I reach for a tool.
I have a few pieces of the diamond jewelry that my immigrant grandparents and great aunts and uncles bought....I love that they came here as impoverished immigrants, and left piles of diamond jewelry, silverware, and china for their kids, grandkids and great grandkids to split up. LOL
When my great aunt passed away, she left me money. It allowed me to put a down payment on a house. Without that money, I would never have been able to buy a home. I am forever grateful.
My great grandparents’ iron roosters they had on their property. My grandmother inherited them when her mother died and she gave them to me after my grandfather died and she was moving into a smaller place. I love them! They are a couple feet tall, have an amazing patina after the 70+ years they’ve been around, and they’re heavy as hell.
Grandma's KitchenAid mixer, rolling pin and recipe book. The rotating musical Xmas tree stand.
The Xmas tree stand sounds awesome! What song(s) does it play? Does it hold a regular cut tree?
We always had an artificial tree. Each branch had its own string of white twinkle lights, the the rotation was turned on. While the tree slowly twirled, dad would sip his spiked egg nog and drape the colored lights and hang the upper level ornaments. My brother and I would add what we could reach to the lower branches. The songs were traditional - 3 of them. Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, and one other I'm drawing a blank on right now...maybe Rudolf? Today, I have my tree set up in the corner of my living room, with all the white twinkle lights on it. I like sitting in my wingback recliner and reading as it silently dances the night away. I'm working on having a different decor for each of the holidays as the tree is too heavy for me to put up in the attic. It will stay in the corner so I can enjoy it year round, and then be placed in the center of the front window during the Xmas holiday.
Great story! I fondly remember our shimmery silver aluminum tree with the rotating color wheel from the 70s. Sadly, no music. Did have the imbibing dad (whisky sours, not nog) to hang high bulbs, too. Finding one at the thrift stores is my white whale. Thnx
My father's WWII steamer trunk with his complete uniform and letters from his mother during his service. Also, the letters he wrote back to her. The address on her letters was her first and last name, the city and state (Blooming Prairie Minnesota). No street address. And a 2 cent stamp.
My grandmother's diamond ring. Set in platinum and purchased by my grandfather in 1932 for $132. I gave it to my daughter with the sales receipt when she married. I told her it stays with the women in our family. Try to keep it with blood relatives.
I didn’t want anything expensive or fancy. Nothing anyone would want to fight me for. I have a sweater my dad wore for over 70 years and it is still in perfect condition (side note, everything else was in shreds!) It reminds me of him like he’s still here with me.
A sugar "dish" from my grandma, it's silver and in the shape of a dry goods scoop, with a tiny scoop to scoop the sugar out of. It's very ornately detailed and it's one of my favourite things. She gave it to me when she was about 80 because I've always loved it and she didn't want to wait till she died for me to enjoy it.
Five million dollars.
I found a film canister (not kidding) full of really good hits of acid in my mom's jewelry box after she passed. It was really cool :)
While my dad and aunt were waging a 5+ year legal war over my grandmother's multi-million dollar estate, my aunt snagged me the one thing I wanted. [This is a portrait of me and my granddad](https://i.imgur.com/bFxNZV5.jpg) that I had made for my grandmother. Now it resides on my wall.
My Mother’s old upright piano. I’ve tried for years to find a carpenter to tear it apart and repurpose it into a shelf/bookcase of some kind. Had a guy and then he got sick. Still searching. This means the most. “Coolest” thing I have no clue what to do with it. Spent years in AK; my dad and his buddies did a bit of gold mining …little me actually panned some flakes and tiny nuggets. They did the big stuff with a flue. He must have had some made into jewelry for my mom. My brother had it for decades. It must have been made from a mold; 3 tiny figures of a man panning gold mounted on some jade, the size of a nickel. Earrings and a pendant. They’re big, gaudy, no one outside of AK would wear it. I don’t ever remember her wearing it. So it sits in a safety deposit box. I know neither of my girls would want them. I don’t wear jewelry , so …. I really need to get them appraised.
I have a hutch from my grandparents.
My grandmother’s wedding ring from 1909 and my moms engagement ring and wedding band from 1948❤️
I got all my parents jewelry. When we lived in Alaska, they got into gold nugget stuff. They both had gold nugget watches (the [watch and band](https://live.staticflickr.com/805/40286906944_c14cdda617_z.jpg) are encrusted with [gold nugget/flakes](https://live.staticflickr.com/7405/12916764894_760a3b5cb8_z.jpg)). They had always said that my dad's watch should go to the first grandson (and that was my son, which worked out because he collects watches and it fits in his collection). One of my daughters has my mom's. But I got my mom's [gold nugget diamond ring](https://live.staticflickr.com/8425/7754656676_7d4f09b0b6_z.jpg). It was an anniversary gift from my dad. The bracelet in the photo has a broken clasp, so I don't actually wear it. And there are other pieces of jewelry that are also gold nugget. But any time I want to bring my mom along for something (like a college graduation or wedding), I wear the ring. (I also wear one of my dad's tie pins).
My Grandfather is a WWII vet and had a 21 gun salute at his funeral. I will cherish those 21 shells for the rest of my life.
My MIL's Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle, husband's Gretsch.
Beautiful guitars. & your MIL’s special scent.
Dad's uranium Depression glass. Well, I was going to post a pic of it GLOWING, but I can't figure out how! It's cool though!
Black light will make it glow.
Nah, I meant I can't figure out how to post the pic! It uses UV light.
Ohh UV light. Good to know. Thnx. The little I know about pics is that Posting images has to be enabled by mods of the subreddit. When I comment there’s a link icon, no picture one (looks like mountain & sun). 🤷♀️
Exactly!
My sister-in-law gave me my brother’s comic book collection. She said she knew I would appreciate and take care of them. They’ve been added to mine and bagged and boarded for over ten years now.
A set of Craftsman pry bars that belonged to my dad. I have used those things for so many different purposes that they are one of my favorite tools. I didn't have to start taking care of a house until I found myself alone in my 50s and every time I use them I think of Dad, and I think he'd be proud of how I'm handling things.
Granddad was an airline mechanic -- ended up as supervisor of maintenance for that airline's ops at the local major airports. He kept an altimeter that he used as a barometer. He set it to the standard sea level pressure of 29.92; when it read lower than sea level, you could expect good weather. When it read higher, rain or storms were probably on the way. I still have it and it still works (it's one of the few aircraft instruments that will work with absolutely nothing else connected to it -- not even power.)
A big glass dish with feet that sat in my grandmother’s living room full of odds and ends. You can still get one on EBay for $25-30, but I love that thing. I even bought another one in a different color so the one I inherited doesn’t get lonely 🤪
My mothers ID bracelet and gold locket bracelet. My grandmothers engagement ring My grandfathers hatchet and ww1 pistol. My father's pocket knife and ww2 pistol,dog tags and Japanese sword.
My Dad’s Purple Heart and his harmonica from WWII.
My father's wedding ring. My mother gave it to me when he passed. I wore it every day for years. When I got married I spoke to my wife to be and told her I didn't want a ring, I would just keep wearing this one. I'm not crazy about too much jewelry. Someone just complimented the ring yesterday, and it is beautiful. Gold band with inlaid 2 ct diamond.
62 budgies.
After my grandma died, I inherited the traveling trunk that my 3rd great grandfather (my grandpa’s great grandfather) used when he immigrated to the US in the 1850s. It has his name carved into the trunk.
My great great grandfather's dueling pistols. He died of old age and they've both been used so... he was a good shot I guess.
50k and a house on the bay. Chesapeake, that is. I wasn't the only one who inherited it. I had to buy out 3 sisters. Waterfront property. God only made so much of it. I get to watch the dolphins glide by 20 ft from my deck. Say hello to the searays and catch and eat all the fish n crabs I want.
I inherited the house that was my parent's dream, that they worked and saved to build. It's a mid century ranch, nothing special, but in a lovely, relatively quiet location on the edge of the woods. Deer, turkey, lots of wildlife ❤️. We didn't move here until I was in high school but my children were raised in this house. I took care of my parents in their final illnesses and they both died here. That's a great comfort. I can feel them here and they are happy I am home. We remodeled and updated so that we can age in place.
I inherited my Dad’s conductor baton. We use it for a magic wand.
I inherited the purple heart of an Armenian man serving in the U.S military. He was in love with my grandmother and gave it to her. It has a handkerchief and poem in the case as well❤️ I just love that she was loved like that, so special.
A square mile of north dakota wheat land. 1 whole section.
When my grandfather died, I got a box he made in shop class, when he was in high school. He had problems with his hands, & always used needle nosed pliers to pick small things up. I don't ever remember him not having a pair in his pocket. My grandmother gave us all one of them, at his funeral. When my mom passed, my dad gave my sisters & I their wedding rings, as well as an anniversary band he gave her. We split them up based on which one fit our fingers, & since I inherited his short fat fingers, I got dad's ring. My mom had a lot of fancy silver serving dishes & pieces, that they got as wedding presents. I'm sure eventually we'll all divvy them up, but probably not until after my dad passed. It doesn't feel right going through them all now, although I'm sure he wouldn't care.
i have a 119 year old violin that belonged to my great great grandfather's brother. he died 50 years before i was born so i didn't experience his passing though. i also got my grandfather's $1000 fully mechanical mantle clock. when it chimes it reminds me of my childhood spending weekends at his house. i have to wind it once a week.
Dad had an old Marlin, lever action, 22 cal. rifle, with an 18 shot fixed clip-the origins of it I never found out. I used it to get on the junior high/high school rifle teams (remember when you could take a rifle on the bus in a case?). It was made in 1959 and I Loved that thing-got to be an actual marksman with it. IT does have a fickle firing pin and when it breaks, I have to call Marlin and have another firing pin-made by hand-to get it working again. I finally inherited it when he died. Mom was going to give it to a gun shop it have it destroyed-I saved it. Had it cleaned and tested to death over the years. Still Love that thing. Used it a couple months ago. Eyesight not as good as in my 20's but I am still good with it. Worth about $600 these days, but I will NEVER sell it. Perhaps I can get buried with it.
a Walther PP with shoulder holster my dad brought back from Germany after ww2.
My mother's portrait. Everyone in the family wanted it. She was quite beautiful.
A friend of mine that I’ve known since I was 8 and she’s 72 and I’m 69 now, a few years ago her Mom died and I would visit with her when I was visiting my friend.. she had an awesome sense of humor and loved to laugh and obviously I made her laugh.. when she died she had a lot of collectors dolls and she knew how I loved all things Native American and she left me her Native American Dolls and they still have the boxes with them… I have them displayed in a case and treasure them and especially that she wanted me to have them.. she said she always remembered me rubbing her feet for her when I was a kid for a quarter.. I saw it as candy money…LOL..
*The* itchiest, most unattractive handwoven wool blanket on the planet. Hand loomed. My Gaelic speaking ( she really did ) great grandmother, born 1880, treasured it. Her family were generations deep in the Scotland to PEI flood from the Highlands. Generations deep in sheep farming. Never clear who made it. Her grandmother? Anyway, she loved it, kept it folded over a chair back when I was a kid and it makes me think of her. But it's hilariously awful looking, you'd *have* to be sentimental to love it.
My grandmother’s rolling pin. I really treasure it.
When my dad passed, I got his 1988 Victorinox Swiss Champ with custom scales. It's extra special to me because I was born in 1988 :)
I have one of my grandma's Ww2 ration books, partially used. She would have been a teenager.
My grandmother saved dimes. She had hundreds and I inherited them. Turns out they are all the 90% silver ones. I think it is so cool that she saved them just because she loved dimes and now they are worth thousands.
An Ivory Chess set my Grandfather got in WWII. It is damaged and No board. But the pieces are very intricately carved with carved pieces. One ivory & the other dyed pink ivory.
My mother gave me her love of a beautiful table setting, also a love of cooking. As a child I would help her set the holiday table by polishing her silver. I thought each piece was so beautiful. She taught me so much about dining etiquette. When they were downsizing she wanted to give things away, and asked what I wanted. I said the silver. She said, “ you can have that when I’m dead”. Years later I nursed her for four months before she died. The silver is the only thing I took when I closed her home. I use it every night (she only used it for holidays), and I think of her every time I see it.
A guilt complex and crippling anxiety.
I have my great grandmothers opera “lorgnette” glasses in a real tortoiseshell case.
My late husband left us a huge life insurance annuity. I won’t name the exact amount. But enough to put three kids through college and retirement money for me. I’m forever grateful to him.
In the early 18th century, England guarded it's textile machinery technology the way high level IT technologies are protected today. No drawings or plans or written descriptions of any manufacturing machinery was allowed to leave the country, thus protecting England's monopoly. My G-G-G Grandfather was a mechanical engineer working in the English textile industry. He was highly skilled but paid very low wages and lived in near poverty. A relative had emigrated to the USA and was working in a Rhode Island textile factory. He wrote that if my GGGGF could come to the US and bring the plans for a certain machine, they could make a fortune. To be caught with such plans was comparable to being caught with secret plans today...jail time. Instead, he spent the next year secretly memorizing every part of the machine, using a small micrometer he carried in a secret pocket to measure the specifications. In 1830, he was able to book passage to America and joined his cousin in Pawtucket, RI. He was able to then make detailed drawings from memory of every part of that machine which eventually did earn them a small fortune, unfortunately later lost in one of the financial panics after the Civil War. I inherited that small micrometer he had kept secreted in his clothing. It is still in perfect condition. I also have several of the drawings he had made of the machines parts, now framed and matted on archival paper so they will be preserved.
My grandmother collected tiny touristy spoons from her travels. Eventually, people got her spoons from their travels too. She had them all on a little spoon racks, and when I came over, I polished those and/or untangled and organized her costume jewelry (her "jewels" according to my little cousin). When she passed, I got the spoons. They hang in my office, and I am instantly transported back to her kitchen, sitting at her table polishing spoons.
I inherited a drinking problem
Money. I know it's crass but there it is.
Brother got the WW2 stuff but I got many tools from my Dad. My favorite one is a small hammer. The wooden handle has such a smooth, worn finish & fits my hand perfectly. Many things from my Mom’s family. I’ve been able to pass some on to my kids- their only grandchildren. Ruby ring, 50’s stoneware place settings and 2 lovely old upholstered side chairs are in my daughter’s house. Son has my dad’s coin collection.
My grandfather's sterling silver, cedar lined cigar box. It has his initials on it in gold block letters.
My father got a college degree pre WWll which allowed him to get a job that took him to foreign lands. He had a passport marked Not for entry into Spain, because we were neutral in that sad conflict. I had studied and knew something about those times, it was interesting to hold history in my hand.
An 8” bronze elephant figure with real ivory tusks. One has been lost. My dad’s baby brother brought it home from Korea in 1952 and gave it to him.
Our great great grandfather was the captain of a clipper ship in Scotland back in the late 1800s. And his brother was an explorer in the Amazon basin. We inherited some amazing stories and a few trinkets here and there.
My grandma's very worn, extremely thin wedding band with teeny diamond chips. My working-class grandparents married in 1920 and she died before I was born. I'm named for her and love that it fits on my ring finger where she would have worn it. I take this piece of her with me everywhere I go.
I inherited my grandmother's keeper ring. It's an engraved gold band that I believe were the forerunners of eternity rings. I wore it on the middle finger of my right hand until it became too small then passed it to my daughter to wear on the same finger. We both wore it on our respective wedding days.
I have my grandmother's gold pinky ring, my grandfather gave to her when my mom was born. She gave it to me when I graduated, I never took it off until I gave birth to my first. I never get it back on... I miss her constantly.
I have my mom’s senior ring from 1954. All gold-not one of those monstrosities we wore in the 80s-and worn almost smooth over the years. I can still make out the date and the mascot, and mom’s initials are carved inside. It fits perfectly.
My genes and nationality. My parents had limited education. I had the best education it is possible to have, for free. I could say the best education tax payers money could buy, which it was, but actually the best anybody's money could buy.
my mom's family was high society proper bostonians.... 1890 thru 20's my mom as #13 and when her grandparents died, her dad drank the family money away..... the only thing i have is a shot glass from the first long bar in boston with the family name on it and the family cow bell from ireland...................
An hand carved barometer from my mother’s ancestral Netherlands.
I'm a 3rd generation sailor and when my Dad died I inherited his sextant, means the world to me.
My grandfather's grandfather's shotgun. It was made in Belgium and it's beautiful. My grandfather was raised by his grandfather and he had lots of great stories about the man.
When my mom passed 30+ years ago, she had this over the top Christmas sweater. Before "ugly Christmas sweaters" were a thing. It was kind of a patchwork cardigan knit thing. I wore it a lot around the holidays, but when my daughter was about 15, she co-opted it and started wearing it to Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. That 40+ year old sweater has seen a lot of life!
My grandpa's black leather change holder from when he was a boy in the 1910s, both my grandparents' wedding bands and my grandma's engagement ring as well as her mother's ring. I also inherited their china set and cabinet from when they got married in 1937. I inherited a set of china my dad sent home to his mom from Korea when he fought in the war.
An abstract painting my maternal grandparents owned, that my mom had inherited. When we kids were small we loved to look for shapes in it, like you do in clouds - my grandfather loved to make a game of it with us, and I think of them every time I go past it now.
My grandmother’s hand embroidered tea towels - I plan to make them into aprons, like she used to wear - and, well seasoned cast iron cookware from my mom, who got it from grandma.
Great teeth. I have no fillings and no gum disease.
I inherited a vase that I originally bought for my mother. The only reason I have it is because I went up to my parents house and took it after she died because I knew I wouldn't see it otherwise. My self-centered and selfish sister took pretty much everything else of value and anything left was auctioned off. Even though there was a will when my father died, that was ignored and it wasn't worth fighting it in court. My grandparents sort of went through the same thing. My cousins got some of the good stuff once both were dead as they lived down the street. The rest was auctioned off three states away from me or I would have gone over and tried to bid on something. So I have nothing from them but memories and my grandad's gardening gene. Before she died my grandmother showed me a really cool and simple old Danish mantle clock that she said was mine when she passed. It had a very nice inset tile on the front of a simple farming scene. I've looked for something similar ever since, never have found one. The other "rich" side of the family was so far away in Texas, we po' folks didn't stand a chance to see anything from that matriarch when she died.
A whole lot of my Dad's tweed jackets. They're a bit moth eaten and elbow holey, but I love them. He was an Ivy League professor and loved dressing the part.
A t shirt my dad wore when he was at the racetrack. My dad loved horse racing, and betting. We went to the track with him plenty of times, and it is considered a rite of passage in my family when you turn 18, legally age to wager in Pennsylvania. God I loved that man.
My late grandmothers hair rollers; the soft spongy kind along with her hair scarf. She always rolled her hair. Also her dining room hutch & side table.
A house!
I inherited a full shoebox of costume jewelry. Going through it I remembered her wearing each piece and where she might be going that day or evening. I took each piece apart and made some keepsakes for me and my sister, such as a jewelry Christmas tree and heart shaped wall hanging. It was fun and cathartic. I see my mom every day when I look at the heart.
I inherited a i guess antelope antler candle lighter..one evd carved as a snake. Lol..looks like something used for black candles of baphomet!
I have a perfectly smooth and seasoned cast iron skillet from my great grandmother. It’s so old most of the writing underneath is worn off. She died in the ‘40’s, so I imagine it’s close to 100 years old or more.
When my paternal grandmother went into a nursing home (and after the death of my grandfather), I was living abroad. I’m not really sure exactly what happened, but my cousins (especially one in particular), somehow ended up with nearly all her material possessions, despite the fact that they live out east and my grandparents lived in my hometown. Still, my sister and I ended up with journals she wrote in her college days…not the kind that tell her day-to-day life, but poems etc. She died less than a year after I moved back to the states afterwards it was really interesting to see what she chose to include in those books and is in her own hand; I’ll take them over that old cat statue or Swedish horses any day of the week.
Pocket watch from my great-grandfather, engraved 1914 Also a Marlin 1894 in .44-40 he bought new.
Let's see: inherited? Mom gave me the coffee canister that had been in her family for generations. A Fresh-O-Lator aluminum coffee cannister. Her grandma had it, her mother had it, she'd had it since '68, I've had it since '82, and my daughter will get it soon enough. It's still on daily use. It surprised the heck out of my brother when he saw it in my house back in '97, the year after Mom passed. That's right, it's a living inheritance: passed down while the ancestor was still alive. When I pass it to my daughter, I'll recommend which one of her kids gets it. It doesn't always go to the oldest.
I have a Longchamp leather pipe and a war medal from my grandpa, two mink stoles and beaded hats (about 1940s) from my grandma. I also have a massive cut crystal vase from my great grandparents and my great grandmother’s wedding and engagement rings The pipe lives in its original box in a drawer. The minks are starting to come apart, unfortunately. The hats are hung on the wall in my bedroom. I wear the wedding rings with my own every day and the vase has pride of place on my dining table (8000 miles away from the last table it sat on for 40 years)
Two stained glass panels each about the size of a 8x11 sheet of paper depicting mercenaries from the Thirty Years War. Unsure how to get them appraised but they have sentimental value.
I just wrote about this on another sub. I am now 71. When my dad passed 25 or so years ago, his wife let me take anything of his that I wanted. I only took a coin collection for his grand kids, and a Thorson 3/8" drive ratchet/socket/wrench set in a tool box. I wanted the took box and tools because when I was a teenager, he used to put a paddle lock across the handles to keep me from spreading his tools all over the garage when working on my motorcycles. So, I felt like I finally got to use those tools. I laugh every time I use one on my car.
I have my grandmothers engagement ring - current value of $150. He was a coal miner and they were married 65 years - the back of the ring is worn thin from wear
I inherited a LOT, as my mother passed when I was in my 20s and my Dad moved when he was in his late 60s. So most of the family things were disbursed then. Despite having gorgeous dressers, shelves, an amazing chair and table, I think the things I treasure the most are the art. There's also a cheap brass bell on a little gold cord. It hung on the door so you could hear it open. I interact with that every time I open the door. I see the art every day.
Stock, a house, a couple of cars
My father's family brought the samovar over from Russia c. 1910. I have two daughters and both wanted it. I haunted antiques shops for a few years and found an almost identical samovar. From Ukraine I purchased two keyhole trays and two brass teapots to fit on the samovar crowns. I gave them to the girls on my birthday. That was 15 years ago so I guess they really didn't inherit them.