A Story

 Once upon a time a little girl lived in Norway. In 1888, when the little girl was eight years old her parents decided to move the family to America. Each member of the family was allowed to bring two things besides their clothes and needed household goods. The little girl chose her doll and her toy meat grinder. The little girl, her parents, and her 15 siblings arrived in America and made their way slowly across the country to Washington. Washington became a state in 1889, so the little girl probably made it in time to see that happen.

 The little girl grew up and had a little girl of her own. Then that little girl grew up and also had a little girl. That little girl, Pearl inherited the toy meat grinder when her grandmother died.  She too eventually grew up and had a little girl, Sallie. Then Sallie grew up and had me. When I was a little girl I loved to go play in my grandmother's kitchen. I appropriated several of Grandma Pearl's kitchen utensils to use with play dough. I still have her pastry blender and biscuit cutter and I still use them regularly. I loved to play with the toy meat grinder, but Grandma wouldn't give that to me.  When Grandma and Grandpa sold their house and decided to travel the country in a motorhome, Grandma gave my Mom the meat grinder to save for me when I was older. Eventually I also grew up and gained full custody of the meat grinder. I also had a daughter and a couple more daughters as well as a few sons.

 One of those sons had some severe medical problems and eventually ended up on a diet that largely consisted of ground nuts. I didn't have a food processor and my blender wasn't grinding them well, so I was spending hours weekly chopping nuts into little tiny pieces that wouldn't overtax my blender. That quickly grew old. Then suddenly, I remembered a little girl a long time ago in Norway, who loved her meat grinder so much that the brought it to America with her. Who loved it so much that she passed it down 5 generations. I remembered playing with the grinder when I was little. I ground nuts in it and was thrilled to make my own peanut butter. So, I pulled out the little toy and started using it to make Owen's food.

 It worked amazingly well! I also have the bonus of knowing that I am honoring my great- Great Grandmother's memory by putting her beloved item to good use rather than just storing it. I also get to share it with my own children. One of whom will probably inherit it themselves someday.