My insurance company requires photographs of things in order to get full insurance value. Otherwise, they simply won’t pay for a loss. So, I had to start taking pictures. There were things going back to my great-grandparents, and they all had to be photographed. An amazing accumulation had been brought together. For generations, my family had obtained things and passed them down. All that I had was but a tiny fraction of their total accumulations. Most of it had some value, some of it had a lot of value, and some had no value at all.
But, for four or five generations, they have been packed up, moved, and added to. Many things hadn’t seen the light of day since they were first packed away. Some things had been completely forgotten. When it goes to my children and grandchildren, it will be further separated.
As long as some younger person says, “I’d like to have that.”, older generations will try to make sure that they get it, so more boxes will be filled, moved, and, hopefully, passed on. It does give a mild sense of purpose. Though accumulated collections do distract from God, they may keep us focused on some aspect of family life. It’s a way of passing the love we had for those who went before to those we hope will follow.
