Moving Toward Entropy

The auctioneer spoke so fast! The bidding went almost as quickly.

Personal connections imbue memorabilia stuffed into drawers, great finds mounted on walls, and random junk filling space with significance. As soon as a family is gone and its belongings are dispersed, a home becomes a house, devoid of specificity. Possessions travel along different trajectories; this particular commingling of things cannot recur. The stories and memories remain, while the props and stage are lost.

Morose were my thoughts at the auction of my grandmother’s belongings last Sunday. A life is so much more than its trappings, but it hurts to witness the palimpsest which wears the meaning of objects smooth.

My little cousin (who's almost as tall as me!) and I. We found the mask in Grandma's basement.

 
On the other hand, even this last gathering at my grandma’s house allowed my family to forge new and lasting bonds.

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Before the auction, we took home an assortment of my grandma's belongings we really loved, but it was still sad to separate everything amongst each family member! Have you ever auctioned off a family member's possessions? How have you incorporated objects you've inherited into your own home?

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I love the wonderful surprises to be found only at auctions, thriftstores, fleamarkets, antique stores, and other such locations, but I often wonder about the past lives of objects. How 'bout you? What objects with a mysterious past have you bought? Have you ever determined their provenance?

Alison