Last weekend Michael and I made the trip to North Carolina for his grandmother’s funeral. It was a difficult affair for everyone. I’d only met his grandmother once in the nearly seven years I’ve known him; which is speaking considering how much time I’ve spent with his other grandmother (nicknamed Oma) and the rest of his family.
Grandma Wilkerson was a difficult woman to be with in the later years of her life. Bitter over the death of her husband and limited in her willingness to travel, she often made it difficult for people to be around her and reach out. Michael’s family tended to deal with the situation with a dark humor, and it always made me sad because of the good relationship I have with both of my grandmothers. It was only at the funeral that I learned of the good things she had done with her life – her involvement in church, the civil rights movement in her community and her organization of programs for the homeless and malnourished.
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It’s got me thinking about the legacy that a person leaves behind. Of my great-grandmother I have stories from my mother and grandmother. I have crochet and knitted items, collections of old crafting books, and some of the sharpest sewing needles I’ve ever had the fortune to come across. From one of my grandfathers I have the wooden bookcase he made, from the other a house in Massachusetts and a play kitchen (and many other things).
As for myself, I’d like to believe that I am creating my own heirlooms to pass down to my heirs. I have a lot of knit and crochet items, and I’ve only been at this for a few years. I have some rather strange bronze masks (those will probably last the longest, if they don’t get destroyed for the bronze). I have my patterns, many of them floating around on the internet. I think it’s a good start, even as a wonder what things my heirs will treasure and what things they won’t even remember.
