Preserving History

A couple of weeks ago Favourite Cousin mentioned that an article had been written about her house. Since she's in the U.S. and I'm in Australia and there was no on-line version of the article available she sent it to me snail mail. (Surprisingly, people still use that.) It arrived today.

Favourite Cousin and her husband built their dream home seven years ago. During the years prior, however, they had been collecting pieces from various demolitions and refurbishments around the city in which they live. By the time they were ready to build their dream home they had a barn full of stuff to go into it. Some items had to be put in before some of the building could be finished.

Their items range from fun and quirky things such as a brass medallion that once sat in the sidewalk of a downtown street to things which have a personal meaning to one or the other of them. Favourite Cousin's husband even has Al Capone's clock! That came when he bought a lot of three clocks because one of them had a personal meaning for Favourite Cousin; he found out later who one of the other clocks had belonged to.

They've hunted items out at antique stores, estate sales, auctions and by word of mouth. It's been a long slow labour of love which captivated both of them and finally came to fruition many years later. They're happy to be preserving some of the history of their city, too.

What they've also done - which may not have been their intention - is to essentially use recycled items to build, furnish and decorate their home. A gazillion brownie points for that! They have their project and I have mine but there has been a point at which the two have intersected and this is it.

I'd love to see their home and hear the stories of everything in it. Maybe one day I will. In the meantime I'm thinking some secondhand glass jars might just be a viable plastic substitute. They may even have a story of their own to tell.

Cheers.