Virginia Jewell

My Momma passed away a couple of years ago now, and all she left was her worn out car, family pictures, and a storage unit on the other side of the state. The car has been sold, the family photos are being uploaded to digital form so that everyone in our large family has equal access. As for the storage unit, I loathe to abandon it. And with being cash poor, I haven't been able to spend the few weeks needed to sort through everything, and finally get rid of it. I did do the math on moving it closer to me, but with our housing crisis, storage units are doubled than what I'm paying now. So there it sits, until we get a stable place to live, and a garage that will serve as the sorting room. And no, my large family is useless in helping out.

Suddenly, every little item that grandma and grandpa used to have, is now a cherished family heirloom, even if it came from Walmart.

But I did figure out the magic formula to let go of every little item that I wanted to turn into a cherished family heirloom. See, my problem, wasn't the value, my problem was the memory that each object held for me. I would remember her using it, or wearing it, or one of her quirks that was related to it. So once I realized that, I knew that my impulse to keep the object was really me trying to keep the memory. My magic formula: write it down in a designated notebook. Take pictures, sketch it out, write down every thought/memory that you have. Then take the object, thank it for it's usefulness, and then give it away to be useful for someone else. That has helped me tremendously to get rid of the few car loads of boxes I brought over already. And all I have is the most "valuable" objects left that have been incorporated into my household, and a tiny blue notebook holding my momma's memories.

My wonderful husband is actually a blacksmith, and I can tell you that there are tens of thousands of blacksmiths still alive and well in our country. Granted the majority of them are hobbyist, but the craft still has a bit of fire let in it. Now, blacksmithing is divided into three sects: blade smithing, farriers, and traditional/general blacksmithing. My husband is specializes in knives and blades, but is constantly learning more about general blacksmith, from making spoons, nails, to catapults, and basic shop machines, like a power hammer. He even does a smelting event every year, and is always taking his magnet to find black sand at the beach. He makes biochar, his own charcoal, and wood vinegar as well. His father and grandfather were gunsmiths, another lost craft, and he grew up in their shops. So I do not believe blacksmithing is a "lost" craft, just underground, and slowly gaining popularity with shows like Forged in Fire.

I would go so far as to say that what we would think that are lost crafts, are really underground, and if you're not plugged into the communities, you would never know. I'm a crocheter and a knitter, and being a young person, I always found others who knew and enjoyed my craft too, but those who were not, were always surprised to see me with yarn in my hand. It heartens me to see so much interests in the ancient crafts.