Family Heirlooms

There are so many things I want to pass down to my children

the knowledge that they are SO loved,
a high self-esteem, a sense of self-worth,
a desire to give back,
recognition of who they are and Whose they are,
the understanding that this life is short compared to where they will be and who they will be with for eternity,
talents that I encourage and foster with them,
a love for learning new things,

scrapbooks,
baby books,
journals I keep personally for each one of them,
photographs,
letters,
cards,
their own precious artwork created by their tiny fingers,

jewelry of mine and that passed down to me,
items that remind them of me and their loved ones,
mementos from vacations we've traveled on together,
my grandmother's china & my wedding china,
other meaningful trinkets,

But one family heirloom that will be so special to give to my daughters one day,

will be the cradle that I slept in,
that each of them have slept in,
that each of their children and their children's children will hopefully sleep in,
hand-crafted by my grandfather in loving honor of me when I was just a twinkle in his and my parents' eyes.

It may not look like the most lavish of items,
it may not teach them the lessons of life,
it may not get them to Heaven,
but it is such a special part of our family,
and it means so much that my Grandpa took out his time to make something beautiful enough and sturdy enough to make it's way through generations!