I came across this post on Reddit where a Redditor had been to an estate sale and found quality items that had never been out of the boxes. I know exactly how excited the Redditor must be to build a beautiful kitchen with these items. It's always nice to know that something from an estate is going to a home that will love it, rather than be flipped for profit.
As happy as I am that these items are going to someone who will love them, I am sorry that the previous owner did not use them. When I die, I would like to leave well-used, well-loved items behind. In an ideal world recipe books would have smudges, floury fingerprints and splashes of delicious ingredients. My books will be well-thumbed. My teapot would be battered and well used. Probably the only person who would want said teapot would be a family member, and even then only for sentimental reasons. For fond memories of us drinking copious amounts of tea from that teapot while chattering away about everything under the sun.
My mother was born in 1928, and her mindset was heavily influenced by the Great Depression, and the Second World War. She would never ever buy or use nice things. If she did receive something as a gift (dinner service, shoes, handbags), she would never use them. We ate from our rather worn china while my mother saved her fancy dinner service for a special occasion. I learned from a young age to mend my school uniform, darn socks, keep old bits of string 'just in case'.
When my mother died young, I went through all her things. My heart was breaking as I found all the beautiful items she had 'saved for best'. Beautiful nylon stockings, glorious soaps (while she used my dad's Lifebuoy), perfumes, supple leather shoes, gorgeous summer dresses. She was saving everything for a special ocassion that never came. She bought gifts that she forgot she had, and so never had the pleasure of seeing the joy it would bring someone.
From the day I went through my mother's things, every day is my special occasion. I use the nice china to eat bangers and mash, the best table cloth is always on the dining room table, and I use my crystal glasses to drink my water. I put new shoes on in the shop and leave with my old ones in a bag. I use a fancy soap immediately.
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