My father worked with his father and grandfather as a carpenter when he was young, and inherited some of their tools, many of which go back futher than that in our family. He's let me keep some of them, because though my father had long moved on to a desk job by the time I was born, I have really precious memories of the additions he made to our house when I was small and how he let me help. (Help, yeah, took me five minutes to hammer one nail down.)

I also have a black cashmere coat that belonged to my great-grandmother, though I find it more useful than sentimental. They don't make coats like that anymore.