THIS appears to have been a week for memories, with the Anzac stories retold again to a fresh audience of young people, and of older people who recall stories of great uncles and great grandfathers going off to war.
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Memories are our vital link to the past, to the things we hold dear and precious throughout our lives.
Rather like music and smell, a special family possession allows us to rekindle the memories of, in my case, a mother and grandmothers, as the grandfathers were already dead.
Possessions trigger those memories.
I have an exquisite silver castor sugar shaker which belonged to my Irish Nana.
We adored Nana, and whenever I see this beautiful silver shaker I am immediately drawn back in time to when, as a small child, I shared my bedroom with Nana when she visited our family.
We would giggle half the night away; she had such an Irish sense of humour.
My Gran, Dad’s mum, gave me three precious rings, one for each of my daughters.
She also gave me an exquisite porcelain jug which I have to this day, and when I see this jug those treasured memories of Gran playing her piano immediately come to mind.
My most precious memory is my mother’s oil painting which she left me in her will.
It hangs in pride of place in our home. I treasure it every day.
My mother is never forgotten as that beautiful oil painting she loved so much reminds me of her every day – of her courage, her "joie de vivre" and her resilience through difficult times in her life – the loss of her first child, the war years, Dad’s illness, the years she worked to give us the best education she could. She taught us by example how to live a good life.
I hope we have done the same for our own children.
The painting that belonged to my mother has been so important to me in my life that I have chosen to collect a painting for each member of the family, down to the grandchildren, a painting I hope they will each remember once belonged to Rob and me.
I have set it all down in my will, and everyone will inherit something which was special to us – in some cases a painting they have chosen already, that will be handed on in due course.
Only one person can inherit Mum’s painting.
That choice goes to our third daughter who stoutly maintains she is the only child who liked it when all the children lived at home!
I’m not sure about that but it’s hers. It is still the centre of our collection.
Our first painting. My favourite.
