Look! Mom's Dishes! ...Connections To Our Past

Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world, getting to work with beautiful 

china pieces day in and day out...sometimes it actually feels more like a privilege 

than an actual profession. After all, each of these plates and cups and saucers 

and other dinnerware pieces all have history behind them. They come from 

many different countries, from all around the world, and their beautiful 

patterns and colors give them a unique appeal that brings them to life 

unlike other ordinary household objects. 

We remember dishes. 

They're a part of our family in some ways, a part of each of our own personal histories. 

Have you not once in your life been somewhere, maybe an antique market or 

thrift shop, and come across an orphaned plate or cup that you instantly 

recognized from somewhere in your own past? 

At that moment of recognition, it isn't just "a plate" or "a cup," but mom's plate, 

or grandmother's cup. There is a connection. Often when that connection is 

made we find ourselves flooded with memories of family from long ago, 

or of our childhood, or of holidays and times past. If you're the 

sentimental type like I am, it can be a comforting experience. 

I've been working with dishes for so long now that I know the patterns by name.

No, I don't talk to them, but in a way, they speak to me. I see them as

valuable, not monetarily valuable, but valuable in a way that fills your

soul with warmth and peace just as memories of loved ones do.

This was, after all, someone's grandmother's plate. 

Someone just like you.