Thrifted Thursday

          I have been think a lot lately  about moving and the different ways we move physically through the world- patterns if you will- about ancestors and travelling and migration or immigration more specifically- because no one really migrates any more these days do they? My family's story is the classic Canadian story told by a pile of trunks stashed in my parents basement- the only real physical tie we have to our family's origins- evidence of the great migration to the promised land of Canada. Four different nationalities brought together into two people- my sister and I.

   This idea of the migration of families has always intrigued me and I myself have always been a bit transient in my own life- after a very stable childhood I moved about every six months through out University and after- travelling, camping, moving- the idea of starting fresh has always appealed to me. Even now I get the itch to pack up and "try out" a different area of the city or a new town all together- much to my Mr.'s relief a road trip usually cures any desire to move.

   Perhaps it was all those years of pseudo living out of suitcases that draws me to collect them today- some have come down through my family like the little faux wicker number which originally held my Great Grand Mother's belongings when she made the journey from Minnesota to Alberta. Others like the sturdy black suitcase, lined in royal purple, I have purchased at thrift stores. I have a few trunks of my own but I am saving those to share with you another day.

   All my suitcase's hold something special- fabric scraps, vintage linens, knitting, with even the smallest- like these below- storing seeds and thread. They all hold something - some the story of my ancestors and some choose to keep the secrets of their journey.  These are vessels of new beginnings, the promise of something fresh and new- be it in the past or in my own future.

     I would like to add that yesterday would have been my Grandpa Henry's 102 birthday- It was a conversation with my mom yesterday that inspired this Thrifted Thursday and got me thinking about all those pioneers who made the journey so I could be here today.