The tradition of the hope chest can be traced back to many European cultures, but was especially popular in the US, all the way up to the 1950's.

A girl's father would build her a wooden trunk which the girl and her mother would fill with embroidered linens, silverware, clothing and other items she would need when she got married and started her own household.

I have no plans to get married anytime soon, but I am preparing to strike out on my own as I look at moving away for a PhD program.

Times have changed, and I don't literally keep a trunk filled with napkins and china. My hope chest is a bit more symbolic, so I made objects to represent all the things, good and bad, that I am carrying with me as I start a new chapter of my life

.Today I'd like to tell you a little about these things as I pack my hope chest.