To add to WesleyS's list of things from our family, there are photo albums and many small nicknacks we found interesting as kids in our Grandparents homes. Some treasures to be passed on in our turn: are a complete collection of Mark Twain from our Paternal Grandfather, and if I don't ever have any kids, our Maternal Grandfather's Fiddle, ordered out of the Sears Roebuck Catalog in '32 or so, and played at North Dakota barn-dances, will go to Brendan as well. The kid'll have quite a collection of instruments. Wesley better make sure he loves music ;^)

I think that the objects however, are touchstones to our memories of those who've gone on ahead. We have a responsibility to our kids to give them a love of family history, and what good has been created in us by their teachings. My love of a job done well comes from my machinist Father, and my Maternal Grandfather the farmer, as well. Both sides of the family have an Old World sense of "Honor" in the best of ways. Doing the right thing isn't imposed from outside, but grows from within. Not a perfect family, Lord knows, but a good one deserving of pride in it's history. Jeff Smith