Patricia Johns

I was visiting my parents not long ago when I spotted this Tupperware orange peeler in their sink, and I hollered! I couldn’t believe my parents still had it! I remember this orange peeler from when I was a really small child. It’s one of my earliest memories, and I’m confident my parents got it before I was even born.

And they still use it regularly! I mean, it’s Tupperware, so it lasts forever, and it does the job well.

Just recently, my husband and I were talking about family heirlooms, and how the things that stick around don’t tend to be the big, expensive, fancy things. It’s a mixing bowl, or measuring cup. A child’s toy. Or… in this case, an orange peeler!

If anyone thinks they don’t have any family heirlooms, I’d suggest they go rummaging through their parents’ cutlery drawer. There is bound to be something great-grandma passed along that still gets used because it’s functional and too boring to replace.

In fiction, an heirloom is an emerald ring. In our family, it’s probably Tupperware. 😉