How many of you remember the Christmas gift you received in third grade? I do.
My parents would make a point of getting my brother Gary and me one special gift for Christmas each year. In 1973 my gift was a beautiful bone china tea set. It has little pink flowers and five cups and saucers. I clearly remember the day I broke the sixth cup and saucer by bumping a shelf it was on. I cried as if I had just lost a pet. These dishes are such a treasure.
In 1984 I was in college and took a job as a live-in home health aide for a family in Plymouth. The mother, Betty Lou, had MS and was confined to a wheelchair. She also had dementia and could not be left alone. Her short-term memory was gone so even though I lived there for 18 months I would have to tell her my name several times a day and explain why I was there. Her longterm memory was sharp as a tack, and she could tell story after story of her early life. She played clarinet in the high school band next to Peter Graves! Betty Lou was most proud of her set of Spode china Christmas dishes. They were on display year-round in her dining room. I dreamed that one day I would own a set of Spode china as well.
I recently bought a new dining room set and hutch from Craigslist. My son and his friend picked it up for me. The new hutch is enormous! Much bigger than it looked in the photos. It is as long as I am tall with three massive shelves. This became my opportunity to have my dream come true. I could now buy the set of Betty Lou’s Spode Christmas dishes I had thought of so often over the years. It was meant to be, as a man had just posted a 60-year-old set of Spode dishes that was owned by his mom. A 12-place setting with all the fun additions. These dishes are so pretty next to my wedding china and my childhood tea set.
Some of you might remember that last year I accidentally over stacked my wedding china and Mike’s grandmother’s wedding china in my old hutch. The glass shelves snapped, and many of the dishes were broken along with my heart. I saved all that I could and replaced the pieces I could afford, but some are lost forever. I am so glad that I used them when I could. I didn’t leave them in a box or on a shelf.
Please make an opportunity to build lasting memories with your prized possessions. These may one day tell your story too.
“The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.”
~ Alek Wek
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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