Airing out the heirlooms

Aahhh, February. It seems that this month brings along a little anxiety for warmer weather and change. Since we have been spending a lot of time indoors lately, I wanted to brighten up our space a bit. I have been looking for a tablecloth to go on our breakfast nook table that would point us in the direction of spring without actually going there prematurely.

I looked on Etsy for some vintage tablecloths and didn't come up with anything I loved. Then, I remembered that I received some heirloom linens as a wedding present from my mom and Sweetie. At first I was a little hesitant about releasing them from their safety in the drawer of our china cabinet. When I pulled this square embroidered linen out of its hiding spot, I got over that pretty quickly.

Laying on top of a simple cotton tablecloth, this gave our nook all of the wintery brightness I needed. When Curt came home and saw it, he said, "Isn't this an heirloom? Is it really smart to use it in here where Addie eats too?" I asked myself the same things earlier that day, and my response was a resounding, "Yes!"

I came to the philosophy that these items were not given to us to sit in a drawer for 25 years until Addie gets married and we then pass them to her. They were given to us to be used and loved. He noticed that there were a few stains and that made me feel even more strongly that we needed to add our own stains, glass marks and the like. This beautiful cloth that was given to my Sweetie as a wedding gift adorned their table and bears the scars of family dinners.

Really, what better way to pass onto our children that we also sat down as a family in the evening and shared meals together? We have an opportunity to continue the living proof that in our homes, there was delicious food and laughter mixed in with spills and tears, but always togetherness and lots of love. That is what makes an heirloom not just an old piece of linen, but a small slice of family history. Time for dinner--memories are served!