Passing down

It's been a bit of a year this year.  I sadly lost one of my grandmothers at the beginning of the year and I fear my other grandmother may not have too long left with us either.  Both women had a huge impact and influence on me.  Both were extremely crafty in their different ways and I'm terribly sad that one of them isn't in my life anymore.  Yet they will always be with me and I'll carry with me all my memories of them and the times we shared together. 


Part of my sadness comes from seeing my parents having to dismantle my grandmother's life and it has made me think a lot about why we humans (of course I'm generalising massively here and I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who don't!) collect things and hold on to things and want things around us for whatever reason.  As amongst other things it leads to the problem of what to do with those possessions when someone dies.  I'm terribly sentimental and would have wanted to keep everything but the reality of it (my grandmother was a terrible hoarder and literally kept everything!) is that it is just not possible.  So I've contented myself with a few items that meant a lot to her and mean a lot to me, one of which is her sewing box.  It always sat beside her chair and as a child I was fascinated by the contents and how the box folded out to reveal trays beneath.   It is a little time capsule into the 60's, 70's and 80's craft paraphernalia, all the original packaging and some things have never been used!  I feel slightly scared to use any of them but then I know I must and that she would want me to to.