Reflections of the Future

During the Big Snow of '10, I drove in to work from Colchester at about 5am on Monday morning. It was such a roaring success that I tried it again. Unfortunately for me, everyone else thought so too, turning what should have been a 3 hour trip into a 5 hour one.

This means it's entirely possible that I'm hallucinating due to sleep deprivation …

Regardless, I came back to mum's tonight to find a photo album open on my bed with a ring box¹⁾ on top - it's my fathers signet ring, bought for him by his father.

With the engagement and all, it got me to thinking about heirlooms and what we owned as a family. Turns out not a whole lot. Jewellry is typically handed down from mother to daughter, so my aunt got most of that on my father's side, and there just was never very much on my mother's side. She still has her wedding band, and had kept this signet ring.

I've seen the photos, many times, but never felt like I did when I looked through it tonight. It was strange, seeing my parents at age 19, getting married. Suddenly I could relate to them in those photos, and I longed to be able to go back to that time and visit them.

History has never been a passion of mine, and while I love a good story, a lot of my family history was hard to relate to. I could see the value in it, but I had no real interest. I've often wondered if this would ever change, or if I'd live my life rarely looking back.

Tonight, looking into the album and seeing my father's face beaming back at me, I realised that the small heirlooms we have, and the small traditions we have are part of our family, and the family name may not mean very much to anyone, but it's important to me. Sooner or later (later, I think) I'll be passing these traditions and heirlooms on to my children, and they to theirs. I could have written the words at any time, but only now do I really feel how much that means and how excited I am by the discoveries to be made.

It would be nice to have some of these stories recorded for posterity, especially as time marches on relentlessly. My plate is rather full at the moment, however. Next year, I'm sure I can make room for one more massive project.

Yes, next year I think I'll try my hand at annals.