The Good China

My 12-piece china pattern is a beautiful, plain white satin with a silver band around the rim that has faded just a bit through the years.  The champagne glasses that I purchased have a simple silver band at the top to match. And of course, I had to have a gorgeous hope chest to store it all in.  Back in the day that was the thing to do.  I know because our high school home-ec teacher told us. We learned to cook, bake, sew, set a proper table and arrange furniture to get us ready to run our own households after marriage.  I was ready!

I was ready for my prince to sweep me away. I imagined using my china to set the table for the many intimate dinner parties with our select group of friends or to entertain my husband’s clients.  Wearing the right evening attire and being the gracious host.  At the end of the evening, my china would be placed in an exquisite china cabinet to be admired by all. And someday, I would pass the china on to my daughters and the traditions would continue.

Oh brother, was I wrong! My prince didn’t arrive until ten years later, he worked a basic job and wore jeans.  And my china sat in the hope chest. No dinner parties.  No exquisite cabinet to display my china to be admired by anyone.   It came out on holidays and special celebrations and then back into the hope chest it went.  Nowadays, part of my china sits in a small cabinet with glass doors to be seen by guests that really don’t notice it.  The rest is in sleeves, tucked way back in a cabinet that would take Houdini to get it back out.

My point is that life doesn’t always go the way we planned, hoped or imagined it would be. But we can’t keep looking out of a glass cabinet door or stay tucked away, waiting for just the right moment to arrive. We need to take out the good china, eat burgers on it, and let it be admired every day.  And if it breaks, oh well!

And by the way, I had two sons. Neither wants the china.