Where Stories Shine

For the moment, our Heirloominary stories have paused.

My grandma Phillips gave this toothpick holder to me when she moved to an apartment after my grandpa died. I saw it in her kitchen every time I visited her,...

As the branches are cleared, it's one last time to reflect on the memories our tree holds...souvenirs from trips, gifts from special friends, and even a few sharks from a...

Our Christmas tree is a tree of memories. Most of the ornaments we hang on the tree have personal meaning. It has become part of our family tradition to take...

Family Christmases are, in many ways, Tradition Conventions. We gather not to pitch products, but to pass along meaning. 

The pickle jar was given to us by my husband's aunt. His family prides themselves on their heirlooms and many items have been offered to me over the years since...

I grew up with a player piano that had already lived several lives before it ever got to me. It was my mom’s piano when she was a kid, and...

Loominaries are the family historians, memory keepers, and curators among us. They shine light on the meaning of things we choose to keep. Becoming a Loominary is a bit like...

“Who’s going to feed all these kids if you take my man away?” This is what our grandmother, Cecilia, yelled at the revenuers.

Adopted at age 33, Alison remembers the day her new birth certificate was passed to her. "I read only the important part. My mother’s name."

There are two illustrations of hummingbirds that have hung in my mother’s house for as long as I can remember. They have that vintage, botanical look that I really love...

The night before our wedding, we tried on the rings. They were beautiful. My husband’s ring fit perfectly, but I quickly realized something was wrong when I slipped mine onto...

"My cape is a special tie to a shared love of making with my great-grandma. When I hold it, I know each stitch was made by hand, with intention, and...

I don't want to lose the magic of keeping, but I also don't want to drown in mystery cords and mismatched mementos. So I started asking a new question:What’s the...

This is one of the longer stories I wrote for my kids, but I wanted to share part of it because, while writing it, I realized something unexpected: storytelling has...

My Notre Dame Catholics vs. Convicts T-shirt isn’t just a souvenir — it’s a time capsule of one of the most meaningful weekends of my life. It takes me back...

I can identify the exact moment I knew Heirloominary needed to become a reality... it was because of a rock that looked like Grammy’s toe.

My son's teapot is more than a keepsake, it’s a marker of who he’s become. It holds the story of his curiosity and creativity. It’s a reminder that his next...