When my great grandma passed away I was given the chance to inherit quite a lot of her kitchen. When I moved out of my parents house and into my very own apartment my kitchen cupboards were filled with the same dishes my great grandma and grandpa used everyday, my drawers were filled with tools and gadgets that their hands had used while cooking, and my food was cooked in the same pots that had cooked their food.
I am now married and have a daughter and even though through marriage and growing up some of my grandmothers things have been replaced it seems that everywhere in my kitchen there are still little reminders of my tiny great grandma. Almost everywhere I look there are memories.
In my cupboard filled with mixing bowls are these beautiful nesting mixing bowls that I can’t bear to use because I am so worried that something will happen to them. The little flowers and gold edging are too beautiful for me to risk.
My homemade bread is always sliced on this worn cutting board that used to live in my grandmothers home.
I remember my great grandpa slicing cheese for sandwiches and snacks for us with this old cheese cutter. We use this little tool almost everyday and when I hold it in my hand I can’t help but think about the past.
I love opening drawers and finding aged and worn tools among the new shiny tools. Ice cream scoops and pie spatulas don’t get better than these old wooden handled beauties.
These colorful bowls mean so much to me. My great grandma kept her cupboards stocked full of sweet cereals for when my siblings and I would come to visit. With each visit we would fill these colored bowls with cereal and milk and eat to our hearts content. While I have “grown up” dishes I love, I still use these colorful bowls for my cereal everyday. I just can’t bear to let these bowls go.
These things are just things but somehow having these things in my home and in my line of site everyday makes me feel like my great grandma is here in my home helping me take care of my family.
When I was Maddy’s age I spent so much time with my great grandma. I wish my little girl could have know my little grandma, they would have enjoyed each other so much. Hopefully as Maddy grows I will be able to introduce my grandma to her through the beautiful aged things spread throughout my kitchen and my memories.
There is history in my kitchen.
15 comments
I loved this!! sooo sweet! such great memories… so neat 🙂
What a beautiful post!
Isn't there something magical about everyday items passed down through generations?
Beautiful story and pictures. Very enjoyable read for me this morning. Thank you.
I just visited my parents yesterday and they are getting pretty old and not so healthy now, so it really touched me and made me cry.
Wonderful post! It's funny to think about the things in my own kitchen, that I hardly think twice about, are going to be sentimental memories for my kids and future grandkids.
Ohh I love that you have these items. My grandmother is still living and refuses to give up some of her stuff, even though they are never used and sit in a cupboard. When I was moving here to CO., she asked what the one thing I wanted of hers and I could have it. I asked for her red glass dishes…she refused me! Instead of decorating my china cabinet, which was hers, they sit in a cupboard in her kitchen, gathering dust, not being admired. But at least I can say that they are still there for her to admire and that she is still around to look at them.
And like you, we used to fight over happy face cups, colored bowls, and certain spoons and forks to have our breakfasts with. Beautiful post….put a smile on my face.
This was such a sweet post, made my heart all warm and cozy 🙂
That is really cool. What an awesome way to remember your loved ones.
How awesome is this! How wonderful that you have all these great memories and great things in your kitchen! What a great blessing! I loved your post–it brought a huge smile to my face.
When I left England I brought some of Mums treasures with me. She sends "stuff" out with others she loves that I actually want her old stuff some of which belonged to my Gran who died 30 years ago. My treasure is a set of desert spoons which were a wedding gift of hers. My Mum and Dad have been married for over 60 years.
Great pictures…I love the story to go with it;)
What a great post! I remember your great grandma and she was a sweetie. I also think about how my kids never really got to know any of my grandparents expect my grandma Nora and it does make me sad but I hope you can tell Maddy about your grandma and she can come to love her if even just through your memories, photos, and her belongings.
I am so nostalgic as well. Although I do kind of like clean and modern when it comes to the cooking utensils, I totally understand the connection. My mom's china cabinet is full of things that I hope to have grace my home someday.
I LOVE this!! And love that you're so sentimental about what most people would regard as just kitchenware.
Sadly, my grandparents lived too far away for me to be able to save a lot of the things I loved in their kitchen. My mother was aware enough to salvage my Papa's beloved cow-shaped milk pitcher and my Gran's pig-shaped cutting board. But somewhere, out there in a GoodWill probably, is an owl-shaped cookie jar that I would just cry to have.
Enjoy all your memories!! Lucky girl.
Those bowls mean a whole lot to everyone in the family. The bowls represent love, hard work, and such good food.
While little grandma never thought the food was as good as she would like each time, we all enjoyed the food made so loving.
We enjoyed sampling sooo much every time.
Really in math terms bowl=love simple huh! 🙂
I love you mom.