Precious items

The hammer that I use every day to hang paintings in the studio has been around a long time.  I have been aware of its presence for as far back as I can remember. 

Our family home in Kamsack, Saskatchewan was built during a time when milk was delivered by the milkman.  In the early days, long before I was born, he would open a small door on the outside wall of the house, just to the left of the back door, and place the milk inside.  When my parents awoke, they would open an equally small door on the inside of the house and the milk would be there waiting for them.

Things changed.  By the time I was a boy, the milkman would come to the front door and the exchange would happen there.  The small outside door in the back got nailed shut, and it became the place Dad kept essential tools, like the hammer.  That tool, once new and shiny, acquired paint splatters and age marks.  Eventually, it ended up with me and is a daily reminder of home and family. 

What precious items do you have in your life that have stories that they could tell?