Step into my home for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, and you'll quickly observe my penchant for all things vintage...in a perfectly curated way of course. This is not my accident and not because it fits the current aesthetic of my Pinterest board. There's a magical quality to antiques that lives through the generations that previously owned them. Everything from the furniture to the art on the walls, to the recipes on the counter. There's something so deeply, uniquely generational about the bond between grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. 
For instance, my daughter's dressed passed down from my mother to me. We love to imagine the 1960s bell bottoms it once held, and the oversized hoop earrings, Revlon Red lipstick, and can of AquaNet that once sat on it. The fancy dishware and linens we use for holidays and special dinners were once my grandmothers during her time in 1960s Egypt. While we eat off these, we tell the story of how my grandfather got lost in the Egyptian desert and as an apology he took my grandmother on a trip around Europe, buying her fancy dishes, fur coats, and jewelry, that have since been passed down to us. 
My daughter's dress up closet is an antique treasure chest, filled with gloves and hats from the 1930s, which were owned by my daughter's namesake, mended and sewed over the years. We can only speculate this was during the hardships of the Great Depression when it was almost impossible to afford new clothing. The wedding veil my mother wore, a piece that could only be compared to Princess Diana's 80s fairy tale wedding. We open the dress up box and the stories pour out along with it.
There's a simple potato salad recipe we prepare in our home, it's only three ingredients but tastes like grandma's house, a hint of cigarrette smoke paired with the dramas of "Days of Our Lives" playing in the background. Other times we make potica (a Slovenian dessert), and it always tastes better when you roll it up with a vintage lace tablecloth. The presences of antique items, traditions, and recipes preserves these stories for future generations. 
There's something so special about the generational mother daughter bond that doesn't exist in the same nature outside of this relationship, you don't have the same last names that you all once shared, but you share more than that. It's the roots that ground you and paves the way for future generations of daughter.