Family heirlooms that tell a story

A warm greeting to all my dear friends of #Read.cash, I hope you have started off on the right foot this week and we are in the mood to write wonderful things. I am recovering from this great loss I had with the passing of my friend and as the saying goes "The show must go on" life is like that and it doesn't stop because you leave. In the midst of all this I have occupied my mind so as not to be sad and pensive and I have started to clean things at home; in the midst of everything I have paid attention to my dearest belongings and I want to tell you today how they came into my hands and why I take so much care of them and I would like my children to know how to value and preserve them too.

In this painting I present my parents, my father Modesto Cardoza (1926-1999) and my mother Vitalia de Cardoza (1936). This painting is my most precious treasure, I have had it with me for 17 years since it was previously in our paternal house, but it was deteriorating due to the humidity and cold in the Andean mountains.

I remember that one day I told my mother that I was bringing it to me to have it fixed and she was very jealous and asked me to take care of it. I took it to several places, I investigated about people who restored this kind of images but unfortunately nobody could help me. One day someone told me that Kodaks stores did digital restoration work and I took it to them. It turns out that they didn't restore the original painting, but they made a copy and they restored all the damaged part of my father's face and the other details, I thought that was great, besides that they made a new wooden frame and the following year I took the painting back to my mom.

She and my brothers were very happy with the result. I kept the original painting because I was afraid that the humidity in the field would continue to damage it. I am very proud to own this painting that my mother had made in the 60's. My mother remembers that a man who was walking around in the field had a picture of the painting made.

My mother remembers that a man who was in those fields came to the house one day and told her that he could make a family picture for them, but as she did not have any pictures of my brothers, she only gave him the picture of her and my father. After some time the man arrived with the picture and my mother paid him with a little piece of roro that she had in her stash.

In the painting my mother shows a chain but she says that it was not hers; that was a detail that the painter added to embellish the image.

My Grandmother's telephone

I also want to show you a phone from the 60`s, this phone belonged to my grandmother, it was the only thing I had left of her and I keep it with all my heart because she gave it to me when she was alive but I could only bring it home after her death.

Let me tell you that this phone still works, I would have liked to record a video but because I don't have CANTV I can't do the test I want, but it is very nice indeed.

These are earthly treasures that man acquires and keeps with affection, they always have a story behind them and that is what makes them more valuable.

I hope that the new generations will continue to preserve these objects with the same affection that we have done. Many times it worries me to see the lack of curiosity of these young people to investigate or know where they come from, who their ancestors are, what they did, what their names were, where they lived. Maybe it is because of the youth but hopefully someday they will be interested in the subject because history is what makes everything have value and is preserved in time from generation to generation.