My grandparents house is slowly being broken down for sale. It has been hard for me
to stomach my second home no longer being available for me to escape life, lay in the
backyard and sun bath, pick apples and plant tomatoes. Not too long ago, my mom
asked if there was anything in the house I would want as a memory. I had a short list:
grammy's vanity and grandpa's tools. Mom couldn't understand why I wanted his tools
but told me I was free to take what I wanted as no one else would argue for them.
When I was a little girl, I used to play with my grandpa's tools at his work bench, not
understanding the actual use of most, but knowing that this area had been special to my
grandpa, it quickly became one of my favorite spaces to spend time. Grandpa passed
away when I was just five-years-old and still manages to be the most influential person
in my life. For me, his tools are an extension of his warm smile, his stubborn streak, his
handwork, and his marlboro habit.
As the distance slips between my grandma moving out of her home and the selling of
the house, I knew I had to find the tools that would be most helpful in my upcoming endeavor. Today was the first visit to the house in over three months. Round one of a treasure hunt for the thing that would inspire, motivate and influence me to finally fulfill my dream of ten years. It's not that there haven't been other whispers in my ears--from my persistent sister, my senile (but wonderful) mother, and a supportive partner. But somewhere in this head of mine I had a theory that if I could find the right tool, everything would just fall into place. Ten years worth of putting off making the next piece
of jewelry would end. And I wasn't wrong.
There, at the workbench that hasn't been used for a real project in over twenty years-
- since my grandpa passed--I found not just one thing to inspire me, but hundreds.
Spread out in fruit baskets and cigar boxes I found files, hand-crank drills, hammers,
saws, stakes from the garden, and hundreds of metal things I couldn't tell you the use
for but will all be used in some way. My grandpa used these tools for something much
different than I. He made the windmills that were in our backyard, the deer decor on his
garage door, the many wood fixtures surrounding his gardens. Me? I'll be using them to
make jewelry.
Welcome to the first day of Willink Forge. I'm not a blogger but I think this is going to be a journey worth sharing.
