Exploring the Hidden Attic Gems, Including a China Cabinet with a Heartfelt History

As a kid, I loved going up the too-steep stairs to the big, awesome attic in my house.  Among the old family artifacts was a China closet.  The door was missing its glass, and its crazed, black finish hid any clue as to what the wood underneath looked like. Its shelves were stacked with old checkbook registers and piles of school papers with gold-star stickers, as well as artwork, also made at school, by me, my two brothers, and five sisters.

The reason this unusable piece of furniture was taking up valuable space in the house was that my father’s mother’s father (my great-grandfather) had made it.

Restoring Family Legacy: My Journey with an Antique Cabinet

Something drew me to that cabinet, and when I was fifteen years old I got permission to refinish it.  No one in my family knew anything about how to do such things, but my parents were, as always, 100% supportive.  I took the money I made mowing lawns to the tiny Clinton Hardware store in town.  Arnold, the owner and only worker there, knew how to do everything.  Arnold set me up with paint stripper, steel wool, wood finish, a paintbrush, and advice.

A Special Suprise in the China Cabinet

I carefully removed the top to get complete access when stripping the inside of the cabinet.  For the first time in seventy-five years, eyes were being laid on a small leather envelope that had been built in place when Adlor St. Denis had installed the top of the cabinet.  Inside the envelope was a Dominion of Canada twenty-five cent bill.  It is dated January 2nd, 1900, the year Adlor made the cabinet. The money had been printed just thirty-three years after Canada gained independence from Britain.  It was also the year Adlor’s daughter, Mildred, was born. She would become Mildred Lalonde, Jerome’s mother, and my grandmother.

Legacy Renewed: The China Cabinet’s Journey and Future Generations

The new finish on the China closet came out better than I expected. I installed glass in the door.  The Canadian currency is back in its leather envelope and kept inside the cabinet.  Since then, the cabinet has been used by my parents, and now, just my mother, Maggie. When Mom is no longer using it, it will be passed down to one of her grandchildren, either my son Craig or my daughter Amanda.  After that, it will be passed down to one of their daughters, Clover or Claire.  Adlor St. Denis’s great-great-great-granddaughters.  Adlor’s family.  I think he’d be happy about that.

To learn more about my artistic journey, sign up for my email list below.

Beautiful art for life well lived,

Moe