I have several sets of "good" china dishes. There is the pattern I registered for 20 years ago when we were getting married, another set my great uncle left to me, a set my grandmother left to me, and a set my aunt left to me. The irony of it all is that I'm probably the one least likely to pull out the "good" stuff. The most obvious reason being that I have 5 children. Four of them are boys and the youngest two boys are 3 year old twins.
If ever there was a person that needed to be left paper plates or melamine it would seem to be me, right? Yet here I am drowning in boxes of family heirloom china. A couple of the sets have been used and passed down for several generations. I can't help but think that it is all going to end with me. This is the place good china has been likely warned about for years and years. The Spode and the Wedgewood were probably both shaking in their protective coverings when they heard they were being brought here.
So why does it all keep coming my way? I was pondering this whole situation yet again on Thanksgiving as I pulled a set out. Why am I the keeper of the fine dining dishes? Why not my brothers who both are currently child free? Doesn't anyone else seen the irony in this task?
And there it was ... My relatives wanted their dishes to be used and even worried over a bit while everyone was eating off them. They put their dishes in my high risk home precisely because they knew I'd stress out about them. They wanted those "special" plates to be here because they knew the plates would be constantly on my radar. They knew something I hadn't quite figured out yet, well until now.
They knew that memories are often made at those big family gatherings around the dinner table. They knew that plate and that bowl aren't just vessels to hold the food. They knew the china was acting as a time capsule to past meals and celebrations. They wanted to be remembered and they knew I would.
Don't be afraid to pull out your good china over this holiday season, that's why it's there.