Filled with Hope

Hope Chest, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

When we moved from Bridgewater to our new home, I had to part with a few pieces of furniture that weren't exactly family heirlooms but did belong to my grandmother. Two of the chests I owned, that were hers, I used mostly for storage. Heavy and bulky, I put them to the curb outside and watched people stop and take them away. Ihope they have been refinished and put to good use.

But, I couldn't part with my mother's hope chest. It was modified and painted from a design from a piece in the Metropolitan Museum by my maternal grandmother.

Both my mother and grandmother were artistic. They were disappointed that I can't draw or paint. But, I can write. (You knew that, right?)

This is a scan of a photograph of my grandmother standing outside with the chest freshly finished next to the garage taken at 205 Wentworth Ave. It is not dated.

But, was this chest meant for my mother or was it "blank" on the top and used before that?I can see the design on the top but there is no date on the inside lid or in the drawers. I do have the key to lock it but there was no tag on the key as it was in an envelope in the bottom when I cleaned it out from my parent's house and brought it to mine in 2002 when my mother died.

Sometimes, answers to such mysteries are right under our noses...