Mr. Red, I know that I held onto a lot of family things from my great aunt's estate because they were a way to learn about the family. Books, letters, I still have those things, but there were items from around the house that had belonged to different people.

My father was estranged from his mother's family and his father's family knew of this and weren't happy about it. I made connections with those relatives after my parents' divorce and wrote to them for years. When I was old enough to visit, I did, and they told me stories about the family, often time with mnemonic devices such as pieces of furniture or objects, and I tried to hold onto those.

There was a cherry buffet I'd liked to have had, that one aunt told me about, but another cousin wanted it. When I asked her about it she said she assumed it was part of a set, but I told her no, and told her the story and even found the Yankee magazine issue that started the earlier conversation. They offered a kit to make a new model just like the original in the dining room, the first nice piece of furniture her father bought after immigrating in the 1850s. A story handed down, and now was shared across generations.

Sorting out what to keep and what not - it is difficult. I don't have the piece, but I still have the story and remember what it looks like, and I've told that story to my children, so even without having it, there is some history preserved.

SRS