Something of special value handed down from one generation to another that has survived for several generations usually due to the efforts of private individuals.
-Merriam-Webster
What is an heirloom?
An heirloom is not just a word, it's a way of thinking.
How do we decide what to keep? We use the term, heirloom, a lot around here but at Rugnet, but it’s not just a word, it’s a way of thinking. The value of an heirloom is not just as an investment, although it often is. Its true worth lies in the memories it holds. The rug we sat on to open presents, or the runner in our kitchen where family meals were made. It’s the entry rug at your front door where family stepped as they entered your home for holidays and get togethers.
The use of the word “loom” is not coincidence. It’s the expectation that the most cherished things passed down in a family would be the tools to make something useful, something lasting. A loom to weave cloth, a way to clothe and care for a household.
Traditions...carry tradition, memories and connections across time.
For our family, and likely yours, heirlooms are more than objects. They are family traditions, meals and recipes we make only once a year. My late mother-in-law’s beautiful Easter Bunny buns. So soft with just a slick of glaze. Not too sweet, just comforting and pure joy. Only one per person, though, and once you ate it, you waited until next year. Same with her Christmas cakes rolled in butter and coated with cinnamon and sugar. My daughters are in college now but when they return home for holidays, this is what they crave. These recipes carry tradition, memories and connection to her across time.
Heirlooms shape the memory of a life well lived.
And as always here, it circles back to rugs. Like this this blue Tabriz in our family room. It’s one of the first rugs we bought from Rugnet founder "Uncle Emmert," oh so many years ago. Our two girls were small children and a year later, we adopted a cat. None would seem to be rug friendly but this rug has endured so much. Impromptu ballet performances in tutu princess costumes, friends spread out on the floor to play board games or build with legos.
As the girls got older, we watched the Olympics, Super Bowl, and the Oscars with a full spread of snacks and sweets. In any other home, this is a rug that would be off limits to kids and pets, something reserved for grownups to ogle and admire. However, this is truly a family room where we don’t take anything too seriously, least of all our furniture or even our beloved rug.
For our cat, Poppy Pumpkin, this rug is her special place. She runs here to be brushed or scratched, and it’s where she likes to take some swipes at an old stuffed yellow canary on a stick. She has vigorously scratched this rug so many times you would think it would be threadbare by now but it remarkably shows no signs of trauma. Even for this rug seller, I remain amazed. Emmert, would be horrified but not surprised. We think of him when we see this rug, too. Someday, maybe our girls will think of us and our family as their children gather on the same rug.
If you really think about it, heirlooms aren’t just passed down. They gather us in. They embody the unique essence of family passed down to future generations to preserve history and memory. They carry tradition and represent our values. An heirloom shapes the memory of a life well lived. For us, these are the things worth keeping.
