Embracing the past

So three generations of Brown women have been working to restore some family heirlooms. During our move back to the mainland this summer, I acquired my great grandmother's cedar chest and my great great uncle's red, drop leaf table from the family home in St. Louis. Both are beautiful pieces of furniture and both fell prey to my grandfather's "form follows function" philosophy. Needless to say, they are both in desperate need of love and attention. We managed to strip the majority of the army green paint from the cedar chest and have added a coat of tung oil to bring out the grain. At one point it was used to house a myriad of my grandfather's tools. Soon it will house winter blankets or possibly toys. The children helped sand the drop leaf table in preparation for a new coat of red paint. I am excited to see the outcome. I decided since we are restoring all of these family treasures, the girls and I should work on a family tree and look at some old pictures. We worked back to their great great great grandmother. I wish we could have gone back farther, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Hopefully we will be able to dig up some gems on our upcoming trip to St. Louis.