I could never be a Pawn Star because I'm too big a sentimental sap.

[Stinky The Clown]

On tonight's episode, a woman came in with her father's WWII B17 bomber jacket. Along with the jacket, she had a series of "logs" in his own hand. Not official records, just his on personal diary from each mission.

So this woman says she wants to sell it all because she has no heirs. No one to leave it to. They go through the usual song and dance with the museum curator saying how special it all is, her asking $2,500 and Rick offering $1,500.

Her body language seemed to indicate she didn't really want to sell it. I found it all so sad. I'd have given her the money and told her to keep it.

I feel the same way when I go flea-ing or antiquing and come across family photos, inscribed bibles, wedding albums, that sort of thing. I find it so sad that this stuff leaves the family to become just so much merchandise.

[Vinca]

1. I kind of understand it. I've got a tome filled with my mother and father's

WWII Navy photos - they were both in the military. I have no heirs and haven't a clue what I'm going to do with the thing. I also have an oil painting my father had made of my mother after she died in 1958. It's in terrible condition and not worth restoring, but I'm riddled with guilt every time I think of throwing it away.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I have a 12x15 storage locker full of my parent's stuff

It is what was left after I gave away all that people would take, all I could force on my brother and my kids, and all I could give to charity. What's left is essentially worthless and yet I still keep it. Its been years. The only change is Sparkly doing the very same thing when her mother died. We're the Last Stop Kids.

[grasswire]

3. a military museum might want the WWII photos

I understand that there are very active groups of veterans and families according to a particular ship or unit. Some of them have images archived on the Internets. You might want to make them available in that way.

[grasswire]

4. on the other hand...

...sometimes families have one member who hogs everything and won't make the heirlooms and memorabilia accessible to others. To wit, my sister. She appointed herself "family archivist" and has assimilated every bit of family stuff she could glom onto into her household -- including things that were meant to go to others. My uncle's medals included, which were meant to go to his namesake. Letters from the 1800s, tintypes, documents, photos from the civil war, books and belongings, my grandmother's Connecticut Valley grandfather clock, an exceptional old Windsor chair...and on and on and on. She doesn't invite family members over because she doesn't want them to see the stuff. I haven't been to her house for sixteen years now -- she lives 20 minutes away. And when she passes, I doubt very much that the things that were meant to come to me will come to me, as her son-in-law is a serious collector and will want it all.

[demgrrrll]

5. How does she explain her behavior? I am curious but

if it is none of my business let me know.

[Sadie5]

6. relatives are very greedy

I have found that when someone passes the first thing that flows through the siblings mind is how much money is left in the bank account and what can I get before someone else lays claim to it. When my father died my brother was so greedy and had a buyer lined up a few weeks before my dads death. My dad had an old watch that I wanted and he had personally told me that he was leaving it to me. My brother knew about the watch and that I was heir to it. A few weeks passed and a package arrived in the mail with an old Timex inside, likely not worth the postage it cost to mail it. I called him and he wouldn't even discuss it, I let it go. Another few weeks passed and an attorney called saying he was sending out papers for me to sign so that my brother could sell the property. In my Dads will he wanted to make sure my brother who never seemed to be able to hold a job nor stay married to any of his 3 wives had a home to live in. I guess I could have raised a stink but I had a good life with kids family and signed the papers. It has been nearly 20 years since I have heard from him. He sold the property and probably ran right through the money. The greedy come out of the woodwork when family dies.

[grasswire]

7. She doesn't.

She has prevailed with this notion of keeping a "family archive", but no one else ever gets to see anything.

She's a teabagger. That ought to explain her attitude toward life.