The tobacco sticks are very rustic and not really pretty at all. Anyone who sees them will wonder what they are and why in the world I have them in my house. But, they remind me of what at the time I would have said was one of the worst experiences of my life and now look back on with nostalgia and longing. I hated working in tobacco. Getting up when it was still dark on a Saturday was just wrong! It was dirty, and stinky, and sticky, and boring. Now I think back to those times and find myself missing it and the people who helped out.
The flatware reminds me of Sunday lunches with the entire family - grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I was hand washing it this afternoon. It felt so familiar to be washing and rinsing and drying these pieces. Though I did think that to do it properly I should have been using two aluminum dish pans.
That is how my Granny always washed her dishes. She had a farmhouse sink before it was the latest in kitchen decorating. She did not find it convenient to wash dishes in. She always set up two dish pans on the counter, one for washing and one for rinsing and did the dishes there.
On Sundays, someone would wash and a couple of us would dry. Again, another dreaded chore. And again, another one I miss. I stored all the flatware in a flatware box that came with my current everyday flatware. I have a goal to use it with some frequency. I'm hoping we will get in the habit of using it at least weekly.
According the Mom the flatware was ordered using box tops off of "something." She thinks it was cereal because that is the only packaged thing the bought regularly, but she can't believe they bought enough cereal to get all of the flatware. She remembers helping fill out the order forms when she was a child, probably around the age of 10.
What I have realized with both items, it isn't the actual item that is important. What is important are the people and memories they evoke.
Jenn
No comments:
Post a Comment