Old

I am fortunate to have been born and raised in a small rural town, it wasn't remote but was far enough away from cities to be very quiet (sleepy at times) and the population was small enough that most people knew each other. It was surrounded by rolling hills of vineyards, fields of grain, properties running sheep or cattle and had a strong history going back to the early 1800's when it was founded. It was, without doubt, a good place to grow up.

The house I was raised in was set on a lot of land and was built in 1902. It had been in my family for a long time by the time I was born and was filled with generations of items those who had come before me had acquired and collected, most was old, antique really, but all of them had a story to tell.

At the time of my youth it was just stuff to me: Furniture, china, artwork, ornaments, books and such things.

As I grew older I began to understand that the items were much more than that though - Each thing was a part of my family history, something that had meant something to a family member or ancestor, had personal or practical value, and as that realisation took hold those things became much more valuable to me as well.

Growing up in such a situation, surrounded by old things in an old house, gave me a strong sense of the value of history which I have turned into a passion - I crave historical knowledge and information generally - and I love old things. There's something special about an item that has withstood the rigors and ravages of time and survived, albeit with scars earned along the way. I guess it's similar to what we, as humans, experience throughout life...as we go forward we pick up the scars of life and each helps define who we were, are and will be, bring character and personality.

The people I grew up surrounded by as a kid, grandparents and parents, are all gone now but I carry them in my memories and so they go everywhere I do, their lives endure through mine. I'm also surrounded by those same familiar things, the antiques and old things that I recall from my childhood and they give me great comfort and enjoyment. I'll be gone someday, who knows where and who really cares, I'll be dead so it won't matter to me; it's ok, I don't mind at all and what's really cool is that the antiques and old things will live on with those of my family they are passed to as will the memories and stories.

The collage of images in this post is one of my old things, a Lee Enfield .303 rifle that saw service on the Western Front in World War One (1914-1918). It still works and I shoot it from time to time but mostly I just like knowing its there, something with a history of its own and secrets that will never be revealed. The scars of use are there though, each have a story, and the item is undiminished in nature by them; in fact, it seems somewhat more valid because of them, I guess like a human does with the scars (physical or emotional) that we pick up over life.

Do you have any historic items of value, sentimental or financial, that you feel attached to? Maybe it's a family heirloom passed down to you or something you found in an antique shop or some such place. Feel free to talk about it in the comments if you'd like to.