Hopefully, I haven’t been spending too much time in my writings on the fact that I am aging, and it seems to be at a much faster rate than I had ever thought possible in my “younger” years. But as they say, “It is what it is,” and so here I go again.

Probably a good share of you who are reading this have, like me, lived well over half of our lives and have thoughts that go with this time in our lives. I have been thinking of what I have that my children and grandchildren would like to have handed down to them to enjoy. If you have ever visited me, it is obvious that I have a tremendous amount of “stuff” but am certain that probably 98% needs to find its way into a yard sale or most likely a dumpster.

What I do have that is special are a few antique pieces, some of which are from family, and both my boys and grands love family-related things. They seem to become more loved if they have been fortunate to meet the family members and have seen them in use with them. I have a few pieces of nice jewelry (very few because I have never been a “jewelry person,” and I am married to a man that thought that “investing” in jewelry was a poor investment!)

In thinking of what to “hand down” and to who had been on my mind for a while but had not put any of the thoughts into motion. It all started quite unexpectedly this past Christmas. Our family celebration was split this year between families; as you all know, one is working, or the day was not working for all to get together, so we had two get-togethers.

The first was on the Saturday before with our youngest son and family. We went to the Eastside restaurant for a wonderful meal and then back to our house for a few gifts. My granddaughter, Addison, noticed I had a ring on that she had never seen before. I had not worn that ring for several years. It was a gift from my sister I would guess 20 years ago. It was silver with four diamonds. She tried it on and said how much she loved it and maybe I could put it on “the list.” (We have mentioned to the family that if they see something they might like, we should have a list.) I could see how much she liked it, so I said, You can have it! She said, You mean today? (I guess she was expecting it might be hers when I passed on to another place.) She left with her ring and leaving a very happy Grandma to remember the look on her face and how happy she was with this Christmas surprise.

As I said, Christmas was split, so on Christmas day we went to celebrate with our oldest son and family. A slight dilemma: I have a second granddaughter (Addison’s cousin, Grace), and I hoped that Grace had not gotten a text from her cousin about the ring. We had a great day, a wonderful meal, exchanged gifts, and when everyone thought it was coming to an end – Grandma gave Grace one last gift. I had wrapped up my diamond engagement ring and my wedding ring. (Believe it or not, I had the original box.) I can still see her beautiful face when she opened it and what a look, and then she burst into tears and said, I cannot talk.

It made me happier giving the rings than them receiving them. To think I could have missed seeing their reactions if I had waited and they got them as “part of the estate.”

Now my thoughts are what I can give my grandsons. Maybe cars would fit that bill.