GROWING UP
This cherished heirloom survived five generations.
Five generations of girls have loved that little cabinet.
My mother, Marjorie Martin Mangrum, was from a family in Williamson County, Tennessee. Her grandfather B.C. Wilkes was a woodworker and made beautiful caskets and custom cabinetry. In the fall of 1928, when my mom was 7, she visited her grandfather’s workshop. She watched as he lovingly built a pint-sized china cabinet. She later told me how she wished that cabinet could be hers.
Her grandfather told her it was for a little girl who lived down the road. Imagine my mother’s delight when she found the miniature piece of furniture under the Christmas tree that year.
Fast-forward to Christmas morning 1950.
I found the same cabinet with a fresh coat of paint under our Christmas tree. My baby sister was born that year, and we spent countless happy hours playing house with our grown-up kitchen cabinet.
In 1966 and 1969, I had my own daughters. I replaced the cabinet’s knobs and repainted it so my girls could use the piece in their playhouse.
My daughters had girls of their own, and every time they came to Granny’s house to visit, the first thing they wanted to play with was the little cabinet.
Now I have a great-granddaughter, Makayla, and whenever she stays with me she has a fun time playing outside with the storage unit she calls her kitchen.
I’m sure B.C. Wilkes never dreamed that five generations of little girls would continue the tradition of playing with the petite piece he built with love so many years ago.