Here are our marching orders for this week's Fun Monday post, per Karmyn: "...pick an object that has special meaning to your heart and tell us all about it. Examples include a family heirloom or a special gift."
"Things" in and of themselves have little significance to me. A few things which enjoin me to my past, however, are matchless, impossible-to-replace t r e a s u r e s. Perhaps there are no greater treasures in this imaginary bejeweled chest than a few items inherited from my mother, who lost a five-year battle with cancer when I was just nine years old.
First, this sweater. Look at it--it's exquisite! The beading is gorgeous. My aunt had this in storage until about three years ago, when she decided to give one to me and a similar one to my sister. When I wear it (and I look for opportunities to do so), it's as if my mom was wrapped around me :); in a very real sense, she is. For some reason her clothes, most of which are too small for me to wear, bring her to life again, maybe more so than pictures. They paint a picture of her taste and style and give me cause to wonder what she'd be like now.
Next, my fine china--her china, before it was mine. It's an Oxford bone china (now a division of Lenox) and the pattern is Malden. I would never have chosen something so simple when I got married, I'm sure I would've gone for something with a lot of color like Wedgewood's Runnymede or Lenox's Autumn. Now, I'm soooo thankful for her elegant, simple taste! This is BEAUTIFUL and pictures don't do it justice. Slice a little SPAM and arrange it on a plate, and I swear it will actually taste GOOD!
My mother-in-law, by example, has taught me to USE my china and crystal and silver (she gave me HER sterling on my 40th birthday because we didn't have any; since she had her own mother's, she thought it ridiculous to have two sets). Most of my friends have their wedding china boxed up. THAT'S INSANE! If yours is in boxes or stashed in a cabinet, PLEASE--get it out! Use it tomorrow night! So what if it's Sloppy Joes or beans and franks, USE IT! If it gets broken, it breaks; replace it, don't replace it...but don't let it sit in a box for the rest of your life, waiting for "something" special when a thousand special somethings are passing you by! My children LOVE to eat in our dining room with the good stuff, and every time we do, I swear I won't wait so long til the next time.
The interesting thing is...I never remember eating on Mama's china with her...I wonder if she ever enjoyed it...this is something I'll never know. She was VERY sick for the five years prior to her death, so it was probably too much trouble. When we enjoy it now, though, it's like she IS enjoying it with me in a way.
The last "thing" which is hardly a thing is my polyphon. I have only seen one other one in person at an antique store years ago. This actually comes from my father's side of the family; his father (who died before I was born) owned an antique store and so my siblings and I inherited pieces we could probably never have afforded (or "justified") on our own. As a child, I can remember thinking this music box was simply magical. To the right, above the handle is is a coin slot; although it has never functioned, we'd put in change and listen for it's "clank" at the bottom of the casing. We'd twirl the handle and then twirl ourselves. I have no idea how I lucked out with this piece, but somehow I think I got away with murder (although I did covet the elegant candelabras my sister ended up with).
Yes, this still plays... beautifully. If you check back later, I'm going to try to upload a video file, right now everyone's asleep so I'm waiting for some help to film it. We have 23 metal discs, they're housed in the bottom piece of the Polyphon. It's function is similar to a smaller music box.
I thought I'd include a picture of the small name plate on the front of the piece...I thought it might be familiar to some of my readers from England.
Thanks to Karmyn for selecting a WONDERFUL Fun Monday topic--you can tell I thoroughly enjoyed sharing these things with you. If you'd like to write about this, it's not too late to be added to the list. Just let Karmyn know (or comment here and I'll be sure to check out your post and add you to my list).
Next week is Willowtree's week to select our topic. He's chosen "Your blogging environment", so that should be a fun glimpse into your lives, too.
Amy - A Family Story
Beccy - Peppermint Tea
Bethany - Ice Cream Mama
Chris B - Ms Cellania
Eric - The Electronic Firefly
Jenny - MamaDrama
Julie - Another Chance Ranch
Lisa - The Food Snob
Little Miss Moi - Nezalezhnosti. Kyiv, Ukraine
Mark - Dirty Uncle Mark
Melissa - Waking Up
Min - MamaDrama
Nikki - Now What the Hell Do I Do?
Pamela - The Dust Will Wait
Robin - Pensieve
Sally - Sally Writes
Songbird - My Way
Susan - Are We There Yet?
Swampwitch - Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes.
Tiggerlane - The Neophyte Blogger
Vicki - Catching Light
Willowtree - A Dingo's Got My Barbie