The Legacy of the Chair

We have a very special rocking chair in our living room.  When my mother moved out of her apartment the chair and a small footstool were the only pieces of furniture that I claimed.  The chair belonged to my great, great grandmother, Bertha Landstra.  She distinguished herself by living to be 105.  To say that she was spry might be an understatement.  Her obituary noted that she was still playing tag in the basement with her great grandchildren when she was in her nineties.  A fall, and bump on the head, put an end to that. 

I still have a picture from when she turned one hundred.  She was featured on the front page of the Detroit News.  There are three of us in the picture, spanning five generations.  I was three years old at the time.   The church was a big part of her life and the celebration was held in the basement of St. Thomas Lutheran Church on the east-side of Detroit.  I have a vague recollection of that party but I have more vivid memories of listening to the Detroit Tiger games with her.  She lived in the back, upstairs bedroom in the family home.  She had lost her sight but she was still able to listen to every game on the radio. 

The presence of that chair in our home opens the door to conversations about my family roots.  The same can be said for the dining room set that came from my wife’s parent’s home in St. Louis.  We also have the piano from that home.  Barb still plays on that same piano.  When we gather as a family, our kids still enjoy congregating around the piano to sing, much like Barb’s family did growing up. 

Mementos can be open doors to tell the stories of our past.  It is the way our family heritage if passed on from generation to generation. 

“Only be careful and watch yourself closely so that you do not forget the 

things that your eyes have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as 

you live. Teach them to your children and their children after them.”  

(Deuteronomy 4:9)

Our values seem to have shifted and Christianity appears to be in decline.  Perhaps the reason is we have fallen short in our attempts to pass on the heritage of faith.  Fortunately there is still time.  As long as God gives me good health I want to use the time I have to pass on my heritage of faith.  It is not just my children and grandchildren who need to hear the story.  The message of God’s grace and mercy needs to be shared with a lost and fallen world as well.