Stuff and nonsense. Someone used to use this ejaculation when cleaning or packing or moving things in and out of boxes. Who was it? Grandma or Aunt Lola? Mom or Aunt Noreen? Not that the source matters much, it is a phrase in the back of my mind every time I try to organize the contents of my house.
The hardest items to place and organize are those with memories. Can you relate to this problem? Do you have an item that no one else values that you wrap in three layers of tissue each time you clean the closet?
I want to display the little dish that my Mother valued, the teacup and saucer my husband gave me on an anniversary when such a thing was a frivolous luxury. (There was a time when budgeting for diapers and laundry soap was far more important than a teacup.)
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| The American Fostoria pitcher is in front of a watercolor painted by Mary Lou Kramer . |
Mother was incredibly unique in her desire to divest of her china and glassware. When she could no longer maintain or use things that were of special family or personal value to her, she wanted to give them to her children. Of course, this was influenced by her inability to dust and polish items so they were maintained at the level of her standards, but I was aware of the selflessness that the action implied for I had seen, very closely, the results of hoarding. I saw how relationships were affected by gifting or by refusing to gift, and I was given the opportunity, by observing my Mother's choices, to learn an item's true value.
So, let me talk about glassware, that fragile item that becomes totally worthless when chipped -- or does it? I remember my sister-in-law placing a broken Waterford sherry glass on her window sill to catch and reflect the light. It had been a wedding present. I have a broken teacup that was painted by my husband's grandmother, a lady he loved dearly but whom I never met, that I dare not throw out. I have a box of small wine glasses that I intend to have repaired simply because I remember my Grandpa Lennon holding one as he told me a story. So, I hold stories and connections and memories that transcend time and place, but these are mine. What can I share so the stories continue?
On a recent visit to Oregon, I saw that my sisters still displayed items they had carted across the country when Mom and Dad's house was emptied and items were dispersed. They still use these, as I still use the few things I have. That is how I will keep the stories going. I will use the goblets, even though they are not a matched set, because I want to build the connections and ensure that they are part of another person's memories. I will build stories around the one piece of American Fostoria I have from my Mother's set, because I have the pitcher. Whereas my sisters have plates and goblets and cake stands, I have the pitcher, small though it is, to pour forth stories.
Since I have the pitcher, it is a given, I must pour stories.
