What happens to our collections when we die?

Last updated on: January 8, 2016 at 12:05 am by Lelanda Lee

What happens to our collections when we die? 2015-12-30T15:09:30-06:00 Lelanda Lee

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Mikasa bone china in the “Just Flowers” pattern. [Photo by Lelanda Lee]

As the Christmas season drew to a close a couple of days ago and I reflected on all the lovely photos on Facebook of gifts of collectibles like teapots and nativity scenes, I wondered, “What happens to our collections when we die?” In light of the refugee crises all over the world right now, clearly this particular wondering is a first world issue. I’ve already written in other posts about how my own refugee-immigrant family has no keepsakes, heirlooms, or even photographs from our past beyond my mother’s generation.

Actually, I’ve been wondering for a while now about what happens to everything we still own when we die. The wondering has been engendered by thoughts of my own mortality and the fact that my children will likely not want most of my things after I’m gone. My children are well employed and affluent enough to acquire and accumulate their own collections according to their interests. Indeed, as parents, we want our children to make their own memories and learn how to value what they have been given.

My collection of tops, which used to come out at the dinner table after the meal, so that children of all ages could play with them. [Photo by Lelanda Lee]

I also ponder how I can make gifts of money and things that will benefit the numerous organizations whose charitable work I value. I learned a long time ago to give away usable items while there is still life left in them, rather than hanging on to them until any usable life has passed with time. Such usable items can bless others when I no longer need or want them – things like clothing, kitchen utensils, books, furnishings, and all the accumulations every one of us acquires every year.

I collected beautiful bone china in the Mikasa pattern “Just Flowers” for many years and loved bringing it out for large family holiday meals, which I seldom cook these days. I collected small spinning tops for a while. I have boxes of postcards received as a kid from my aunts who traveled and also lovingly collected from everywhere I’ve traveled. I have yet to welcome a granddaughter with whom I might share those memories from my girlhood.

There is also a large collection of wooden toys whose figures bend and twist when you press the button on the bottom of their little circular stand. For a long time, I collected Christmas ornaments from places I’ve visited, but I stopped doing that a few years ago when I stopped putting up my Christmas tree.

Just a few of my bendy toys. [Photo by Lelanda Lee]

In the past several years, I have intentionally given away some of my favorite things. I intend to give more of them away at every opportunity. It’s time for my favorite things to find new homes and new people who will find joy in them, at least for a while. Like all things, including our selves, our treasures will pass with the years. We can choose to make their passing a blessing to others.

In addition to the material treasures, I also wonder what will happen to the things I’ve written – articles, blogs, commentaries, stories, and poems. My daughter is interested in the family stories, but not so much the theological reflections. Ultimately, I think we all wonder what will happen to the collection of ideas and experiences that make up who we are in this earthly realm. In other words, how will we be remembered? But that is the subject for another blog.

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