Use the Things You Have

Back when the hubby and I married, I didn't opt for a bridal registry.  For one thing, those type things were for the rich and we sure weren't rich.  For another, having nice china wasn't something we thought important.  Our life together wasn't going to involve a lot of entertaining.  After 20 years of marriage, I woke up with this urge for china.  Would my life be better with china?  Maybe or maybe not, but it would sure beat that stuff we bought from the grocery store.  You know, the stuff you could buy when you spent a certain amount on groceries.  Remember those?  Actually what I had wasn't horrible and it was kind of nice; however, nobody would ever mistakenly think that it came from a department store not even this little country lady. 

One day it happened.  I feel in love.  One day in the 80s I happened onto an ad in Southern Living for Amapola by Villeroy and Boch - a full page spread.  I was totally smitten.  Smitten over china which we had agreed was not a part of our life style.  I just swooned over these cream colored dishes with the large bold poppies on the rim.  I just mentioned it in passing - well I need to clarify - I put the ad right under the hubby's nose.  Months later the hubby remembered.  For my birthday that year, he gave me my first place setting of my first set of china.  He searched and searched and found a great place out of New York City called Lanac Sales which had the best deals and he did this before internet.  Lanac is Canal backwards--the company is on Canal Street.  (Don't ask me how I remember this stuff - elephant maybe??  Don't answer that.) For the next several years he would buy me a place setting or two for my special days; birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas.  Over the years I have accumulated a lot of pieces thanks to Ebay and my need to be the "winner". 

Then those dishes just sat there in the cabinet collecting dust.  I would get them out now and again, using them for special occasions.  I would wash them by hand and carefully put them back in the cabinet with a pad between each dish to keep the scratches at bay.  As more and more members were added to our family, using those dishes became more and more of a chore. 

In the wee, non-sleep hours of the morning, it came to me that life was short and there was no need in saving them.  So today I pulled out all my old the dishes and replaced them with my china.  You wouldn't believe how much prettier the inside of my cabinets looks.  I will use the china and use it daily.  I will enjoy them.  I will wash them in the dishwasher, stack them, and not worry if they might get broken.  Also, I have a full box of replacement pieces in the attic thanks to my obsession with Ebay.  

All this leads me to this.  Use the things you have.  Don't store them away for the future.  If you keep things hidden away and nobody uses them, what good are they?  Your children will not have the fond memories that you had of your grandmother using a special tablecloth.  They will remember what was on your table.  So get those things out and use them.  Case in point:  I told my daughter about moving the china down for every day use today and she couldn't even remember them.  See.....  Someday she would have inherited these dishes and placed in a garage sale wondering what her mother ever saw in that pattern and why she didn't ever use them.  They well may go in a garage sale someday, but now she and my grandsons and the rest of my family will remember them.  Hopefully, the dishes will be well worn and there may be a chip or two, but also maybe my kids will have pleasant memories of our meals together. 

I love you guys.  Bet you didn't think I could make such a long blog post about dishes, huh?  Never underestimate my gabbiness (word??).  I think I am making up for a shy childhood.