Family Discovers More Than 2,000 Salt and Pepper Shakers While Going Through Late Grandmother's Belongings (Exclusive)

• Rachel Whitten's grandma Sharon Tidwell started collecting salt and pepper shakers in 1990

• Growing up, Whitten and her sister Sara Cole recall sitting around their grandma’s kitchen table every Sunday after church, admiring her wall full of salt and pepper shakers

• After Tidwell died in December at the age of 80, the sisters, along with the rest of their family, went through the almost 2,000-piece collection

• Whitten posted a video of the collection on TikTok, where it has since gone viral, amassing more than 7.5 million views and 8,000 comments

One of Sharon Tidwell's favorite pastimes was collecting salt and pepper shakers.

She started the collection in 1990 when she and her new husband built a house. "Her mother gave her some family heirloom salt and pepper shakers, and from there, she caught the 'collection bug,' " granddaughter Rachel Whitten tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Tidwell came from a generation of hard workers. She was a single mother for many years, and when Whitten, now 33, was younger, Tidwell helped take care of her and her sister, Sara Cole, 34, while their mom, Tammie Ornsbey, 58, worked.

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Whitten and Cole remember sitting around their grandma’s kitchen table every Sunday after church as kids, admiring her wall full of salt and pepper shakers. They would talk to her about them and listen as she recalled the story behind each set, from who gave them to her, to where she got them.

Now, years later, the sisters, along with the rest of their family, gathered around the table again, this time to go through the collection — without Tidwell, who died in December 2024 at the age of 80.

"This collection is bittersweet," Whitten, a high school teacher from Pottsville, Ark., tells PEOPLE. "It brings back memories of staying the night at Grandma’s house on weekends and having to dust them when we got in trouble. They are my grandma’s legacy, something she can pass down to me and my sister. She can touch others' lives through her love of these small trinkets."

"When she lived in her house, she had a custom-built shelf along the wall of her dining room," she adds. "It was at least 15 feet long and 9 feet tall. After she moved in with my parents, the shakers were boxed up and stored in a shed for 13 years, until we opened them after her passing."

When the family unpacked the salt and pepper shakers in January, they found 1,154 intact sets. While they estimate she had close to 1,300 sets, many had been broken or destroyed in storage.

Some of Whitten’s favorite sets include a pair that sat on her great-grandparents' kitchen table when her mother was little, a Wizard of Oz set, and an astronaut set that her sister is obsessed with. One of the most unique sets, which her grandma loved the most, is a pair made by her dad.

"He cut some deer antlers up and made her a custom set," she says. "She used to say they were her favorite, and my entire family agrees."

"I miss her every day," Whitten adds. "She was a light in my life, and losing her has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. Seeing her collection and taking pieces with me makes me feel like I always have her in my home and with my family. Hold on to those you love and never take for granted the time you have with them."

When the family first went through the collection on a whim, Whitten decided to film a short overview video of all the salt and pepper shakers. Later, she posted it on TikTok. While she thought people might find it cool, she never could have imagined the response she’d actually get.

Since then, her video has gone viral, amassing more than 7.5 million views and 8,000 comments. She’s also posted follow-up TikTok videos showcasing some of the individual pieces of the collection.

"It made me feel like my grandma was smiling down on me," she says. "Hearing the stories people told me about their grandparents collecting or how they’ve recently started collecting was, in a way, telling me that Grandma is still with me."

She adds, "She would not believe the outpouring we received. There have been some negative comments, as with anything on the Internet, but I would say 98% of them have been overwhelmingly positive."

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As the family continues to go through the collection, Whitten says they are planning on keeping a good number of the shakers between her, her mom and her sister. Right now, Whitten has saved about 60 sets for herself.

"We want to pass down the ones that have meaning to us," she says. "We have given some to family friends who knew and loved my grandma. They are thrilled to have a piece of her with them. We are going to sell some and maybe donate some, but we are making sure they are going to people who will treasure them."

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