Christmas is always a time I think of loved ones who are no longer here. When we were young the excitement of Nanny and Grandad coming to visit was greater than the arrival of  Father Christmas. And whilst they are only now in my thoughts, I have some lovely things to remember them by. I am not a materialistic person, but I am a sentimental one.

When my Grandad died I asked for his potato. Yes you read that correctly. His Mum had kept it at the bottom of her bed to ward off various diseases. He kept it and in turn I am now the owner of a 100 year old potato. (It looks like a walnut if you are wondering.)

For my Nan I chose to keep a book. Specially leather bound. A gift she had always treasured from her father. I also had another thing to remember her by. It may look like a rather worse for wear soft toy to the untrained eye. 

To me it is my childhood memories. 

Peter Rabbit, the naughty little rabbit that stole carrots from Mr McGregor. My favourite story when I was a young girl. We would go to the woods and my Grandad would fall down Peter's hole. We could hear him but I never found the hole myself. 

This rabbit nearly caused us to miss a ferry. I couldn't go on holiday without him. It turned out he was buckled into the front seat of the car whilst my parents were frantically looking around the house for him and I was crying. He came with me through my eye operations. The nurses even gave him an eye patch like me. This backfired as I was upset to see him poorly. So this toy means so much more than what you can see.

George offered me the chance to have an heirloom for one of my boys. If they were younger I would have got wooden blocks or  a train. A timeless gift. However, as they are bigger I had to think. A gift that will give them memories and will want to share with their children. The decision was simple. Star Wars Lego.




I am going to give this to middle man. I often feel he gets a raw deal with being the middle child. I hope that this is something we can do together. A set that we can enjoy building and then he can enjoy playing with. Memories being made. Star Wars is a classic and apparently all boys have to like it, so hopefully when he has children of his own, he will be able to share the joy of rebuilding it with them. 

Have you bought your children an heirloom gift? What would you choose?