Sunday, August 21, 2011

Family Heritage


I never considered myself the sentimental type but there is a lot of sentiment in this picture. Probably what you see is a sleeping baby in a crib, but as Paul Harvey says, here's the rest of the story. The baby isn't just any baby, It's my grandson. My first but hopefully not my last! Complications at birth but now a well developing, well behaved, great kid that carries my last name into the future. The crib? Not just any crib but a crib with a story. You see, this crib has held precious cargo for 4 generations. It was made by a man with very little by way of worldly possessions back in the time of the great depression. Carefully hand crafted from scrap wood he found laying around. That man was my wife's grandfather and he made the crib for my wife's father. Little did he ever know that this crib would be used for his great-great grandson. The important thing wasn't that he used the most expensive wood or fancy wood shop tools but that he did the best he could with what he had. He put time into it. He put effort into it. It wasn't purchased at Wal-Mart or even Oak Express. It isn't without it's "flaws" here and there but there's no doubt it has served well over 75 years. Recently it fell into disrepair because of some careless handling and storage by a distant relative. My father rose to the challenge of making it once again usable, sparing what could have been a death knell to a family heirloom. The room the crib is in is in the house that I built with the help of my father and my boys including the baby's father. With God's help, this young child will grow up and become part of the heritage because of the faithful efforts of those that have gone on before him.

3 comments:

  1. Very nice! Shane also slept in a cradle made by his great grandfather. I love the family ties!

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  2. Very nice! :) I'm so proud of you that you treasure the worth far beyond the surface appearance. :)

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  3. I'm so glad I just discovered you are blogging! I like the sense of humor, and really enjoyed the cradle blog.

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