The Burri$ Heirloom....

 While my mom was here visiting, she brought me something very special that I wanted since I was a little girl. This beautiful cameo.

This cameo belonged to her, her mother before that, and her grandmother and namesake, Grandma Louise.
Grandma Burris was married to AP Burris (Algie was his real name!). AP owned a prominent company that is still in operation today and a common product used in every single retail store. Let's just say, he had the dough. However, he was a miser. He would not let Grandma Louise buy a postcard or even a stamp because it was "too expensive". He made her re-perk the coffee and recycle the coffee filters. She was resourceful and made my mom a fabulous scrapbook out of construction paper.She also spent time walking to the library with my Mom, taking her to see Wizard of Oz at the theater, and riding the bus. She mostly walked everywhere and eventually slipped on a melted candy bar, broke her hip, and passed away shortly after.

On their 50th wedding anniversary they had a portrait taken together and she's wearing the beautiful cameo he bought her. She finally had something of value to pass down and I was very excited that after all these years, I would be the lucky recipient! I mean, since I was a little girl I wanted it. How old would I be when it was finally passed on? Just look at how her hair flows! I thought it was so unique - NONE of my friends wear cameos. I could be a real retro-trendsetter, and when my friends asked about it I could rattle on about how it was passed down four generations -  to me. Do families still pass down "family-jewels"? (go ahead, laugh - not THOSE kind of jewels - I'm a girl!)

It gets better. Out of curiosity, my parents had it evaluated before my mom's trip to visit us. It had been so long, it might be a good idea to know it's monetary worth while passing it down. We're thinking, maybe $800? just guessing. She presented it to me, reminded me of all the stories along with b/w photos.


I will treasure the cameo always, especially since she then shared the best family secret EVA!

To our surprise.....the evaluator informed us.....ready for this?  Wait for it.....



It's a FAKE!