Unwanted Treasures

/ rothpoetry

Walnut table

I believe meaning and purpose often dies with us. Emotions are very hard to pass on …except through genetic predispositions. So much is gone when one dies. A lifetime of memories and stories are left untold, while a few cherished moments and trauma live on …sometimes for generations.

I see it happening, when I volunteer at the Habitat Restore. Parents die leaving a houseful of keepsakes. A handful are saved, and our box truck brings us the rest. Stuff often loses meaning when passed from generation to generation. Young folks have their life, their own stuff; So, unwanted treasures from the past go to be sold to someone who will cherish them, and then perhaps they too will be passed on, resold, or discarded.

Our cherished treasures

full of memories long past

Help build new houses

IMG_9235

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Note: Habitat for Humanity Restore is a place that takes donations of many kinds that are resold. The money is used to build new low-income houses for families who otherwise would not be able to afford one. In the past our store alone has taken in enough in one year to build ten new houses.

For more information: https://www.habitat.org/together-we-build?

41 thoughts on “Unwanted Treasures”

  4. Dwight, I love your beautiful and poignant thoughts you’ve shared. 🥰💖😊 I have witnessed how such treasures are no longer treasured, and they are discarded as if they never existed…the love is gone and cherished memories evaporate. The things I have of my parents remind me of a time we shared. I guess I don’t mind being a little melancholy. 😥🙏🏼🤗

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    • Thank you Kym for your heartfelt thoughts!
      My brother took a whole vanload home when my mom sold her house. Now it is stored in his garage and his kids have no interest in it! Seems that is the cycle of things. I have only a few items to remember.

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  7. I appreciate what you’re doing. It’s what we’re all doing at wordpress as well. Our thoughts and ideas might not be treasured elsewhere but they are definitely appreciated here. This community has been a blessing for me.

    My friends and I do the same with books. We collect them from houses they are not needed or shall not be passed on to the next gen because they have their own collection and then we donate them to libraries and N.G.O’s. The blessings might not be immediate but I know that when the book reaches the reader, a blessing is released into the world.

    Thank you for this post, Dwight! It resonated with me.

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    • Thank you Harshi, for your great commets. So great that you are sharing these books. It is important to give back to the community when we are able. I agree. this blog is a wonderful community of supporters who appreciate what we share.

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  8. I like the idea of recycling treasures to help build homes for people who need them! We have a local Habitat chapter and I think they do great work in our communities. Glad to hear you volunteer, Dwight 🙂

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  9. I enjoy your Habitat shares and appreciate the work you do there. I have given a lot of thought to what you wrote about in your second paragraph, regarding my daughter. I don’t think her generation is as sentimental with personal belongings. 🤔 A lovely haiku!

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  12. I loved what you had to share and it’s so true, but I also think that we might not be aware of how much has been passed onto the following generations : values, aspirations, even certain interests. I think my mother would be beaming from head to toe if she watches her granddaughters both living out parts of her values she held so dear. Such as spirituality, nature, geography and geology, art and crafts, sewing and yarn skills, hospitality, love of animals. But I do understand there’s a lot of precious items that don’t seem to have the same value when it is passed on because the next person has no clue what memories the objects hold. It’s interesting we have inherited my mom in law’s writing chest which we absolutely love, but your post has made me ponder on what memories might it be harboring, what feelings, what knowledge does it hold that we will never know. 🤔😉

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    • Thank you, Morag! You are right the things you mention are far more important to pass on than physical things! Our influence gets passed on with every new generation. Thank you for this reminder!

      Liked by 1 person

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