Value: What's it worth to you?
I recently visited some friends who just bought a really old, run-down house that they are renovating. The work they’re doing is fabulous – the home will soon be restored into a lovely ante-bellum townhouse. But when they purchased the house, it had some crumbled walls, years of accumulated dust, antiquated kitchen and bathrooms – and it was floor-to-ceiling full of “stuff.” Old furniture, glassware, dishes, boxes and boxes of things wrapped in scraps of newspaper – just “stuff.” As they’ve sorted through the odds and ends of the old house, however, they’ve discovered some items that were quite valuable. An old Confederate bill. An antique mahogany chest. Some exquisite dishes and glassware. They’ve been able to find things of value in those boxes. In the past few weeks, my family’s been sorting through things that belonged to my Grandmother. It’s been bittersweet fun – and I’ve carted home a few things that some folks might have rolled their eyes at. But you know, it’s valu...