What two things in your house would you like your children to cherish after you die?
I was looking around and thinking that my children will probably put most of my stuff on (A) Freecycle, (B) a bonfire or (C) the tip, but there are a few things that I hope they will treasure.
The first is a big, beautiful cherrywood rocking horse. An aunt left me a small legacy and, rather than fritter it away, I bought Arabella. The GSs rode it, some timidly, one to the point where the stand left the ground. The GDs spent hours braiding the mane and tail and decorating them with ribbons and hair bobbles. I hope that one of them will cherish her and pass her down the family.
The other is a Minton china magpie on a tree stump, beak and wingtip broken and inexpertly mended, not because it has any cash value but because it carries so many memories of my Mother's early life. She was brought up in an orphanage, put into domestic service against her will and, because her hand had been damaged in the orphanage leaving it clumsy, she broke the ornament belonging to her employer when she was dusting. He was furious and ordered her to throw it away, but she sneaked it up to her room, glued it together and treasured it all her life, as do I. I hope one of my children will pass the story on with the magpie.
