Deep Roots Family Tree Blog

A family heirloom

I wouldn’t say that anything has necessarily been passed down to me through generations, other than all the family history work that my uncle has done and whoever had come before him. I think that is probably the most important heirloom. Knowledge.

Other than that… I have my dad’s army uniform that we didn’t know he kept. A ring of my paternal grandfather’s that my dad would probably prefer that I not wear, but I do.

Then I have a mailbox door. Yep. A mailbox door. I can’t remember when they said that they upgraded the mailboxes at the tiny tiny post office where my grandparents lived, but they got to keep their door. It could have possibly belonged to earlier generations.

I always wanted that mailbox door. I loved to play with it as a kid, trying to get it open. It was the one thing that I really wanted after both of my grandparents passed away. I did eventually get it. It sat on a shelf for a very long time. It still worked, it just didn’t have anything attached to it.

My mom asked me for it one day. She said that she knew someone who could make a box for it. I gave it to her, and many months later, she returned with a beautiful wooden box with the state of North Dakota etched in one side and “home” etched on the other side. He found the same exact stickers that were on the original mailbox. That was the only thing he updated.

This is probably one of my top 5 favorite gifts of all time. It’s incredibly special to me. Now I just need to figure out who it will move on to after me.