Have you been left with family effects due to divorce, death, inheritance or moving a family member into assisted living? What should you do with their belongings? What needs to be kept?

You could stuff everything into a cupboard and store it, perhaps until your children are left with them. Thus, worshipping items because they belonged to someone who has passed on and you feel too guilty to get rid of them.

Remember, grandma’s things contain grandma’s memories and dealings, so, unless something brings you or someone else in the family joy or a positive memory, you have permission to rid yourself of things no one wants. Remember, if you don’t handle kept items now, and they get pushed onto the next generation, they may not know the significance, origin or value and may discard cherished items as junk.

When dividing up cherished items, remember there is more than one family member interested in family mementos. One of the quickest ways to bring disharmony into a family is dividing up grandma’s stuff.

A few ways I have learned when sharing such items are to:

• Take turns having a cherished article in a sibling’s home
• Duplicate the item if possible
• Divide the item if possible and share
• Take a picture of an item and store the photo with the story including owner, age, use—sometimes the story and a picture are enough–

Indisputably, the most valued inherited item is the family Bible. Before the 19th century, it was common to write family names and important dates in the family Bible. Sometimes this might be the only place these dates are recorded. Obviously not everyone is going to be left this prized possession but if you are “treat it like gold” or give it to someone who will.

The genealogies, family stories, historical accounts, and traditions that we keep and pass on can serve as tangible reminders of those stories, making doubly sure the stories continue to be told and retold, stitching hearts together across generations.

Photographs are the most popular item everyone wants. Fortunately, they are the easiest thing to copy. The more people who have copies of photographs and family stories the better for preserving the memories and interest in the past.

Grandma most likely saved items of an historical nature. Such donations to the local museum or historical society may allow more people to enjoy. Much of this historical information are ephemera items which were made without lasting significance, i.e. menus, programs, ticket stubs. Because they were printed on poor quality paper, they quickly fade, turn yellow and brittle. If saving such items, used a sheet protector or buffered paper to decrease the acid migration. Color-copy newspaper on archival paper.  The color copy will show more details and give a crisper image. Remember, newspapers were not meant to be kept, because yesterday’s news is no news at all, so they were printed on poor quality paper thus requiring a lot of maintenance to preserve. For librarians and archivists, however, no publication captures the day-to-day life of a community and its citizens better than the local newspaper. Editorials, human interest stories, society news, sports reporting, advice columns, obituaries, and business reports tell the daily life story throughout communities.

Find a suitable library, archive, or historical or genealogical society. You may want to contact libraries, archives and societies in the area where your ancestor lived. Things of value to the community: Antiques of an historical nature—donated to museum, historical society for more to enjoy.

Enjoy grandma’s items that you do keep, and share her stories, passions and life with the next generation.

—Laura Best-Smith- Presenter- RootsTech