Writing Prompt #89

Timeworn Tools To Our Heirs Can Last A Lifetime

Family stories give us the tools to link our past to the future

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

The castles in Europe have always impressed me. On the walls of the great English castles, there are portraits of family members, hundreds of years old. Sculpture and artifacts taken during conquests and exploration by their ancestors are proudly displayed by their current owners. I envy these aristocrats, their history and their heirlooms.

Heirloom has evolved in meaning from the fifteenth century, when the oldest son inherited the family tools, connecting him to previous generations.

Without mechanization tools were made by hand, a labour-intensive and time-consuming project. Gradually, an heirloom could mean anything desirable or valuable that connected someone to his dead family.

In striking contrast to the aristocrats and peasants, my paternal grandfather died before my birth, leaving nothing of value. I don’t know my great-grandparents. Not even a photograph remains of them. My known history is only 140 years. And I have nothing except stories that will last as long as I remember.