“Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” John 2:10
Kevin and I celebrated four years of marriage on November 13. When we combined households, we ended up with an eclectic mix of furnishings. A lot of our stuff has been well-loved, including our dishes, many of which are chipped. (This excludes the melamine plates.....those things will last forever!) Given that we'd chosen not to buy anything new, we decided to break out a set of china I'd bought years ago.
Most folks tend to register for china when they get married. Ours was a second marriage for both of us, so we didn't register for gifts. In my early 20s, I'd seen this set of dishes in a mailer or something, and decided to order a set. I got plates and bowls and serving dishes and wine glasses....even a matching set of candlesticks and a planter! I probably paid about $1,000 for all of it. I made small payments on it for a couple of years, I'm sure. I have no idea what I thought I'd use this for. I just liked it. And, now, almost 20 years later, it basically sits in the cabinet collecting dust. The natural thing to do was to chuck our broken stuff and use this set. Why save it for a special occasion? We don't even have a formal dining room, so any grand visions of hosting a Downton Abbey-style dinner party can be put to rest.
I actually have another set of china that I inherited. It's beautiful and delicate and old, and it wears the scars of years and years of use. I think about that set, and when it may have been used. Probably for Sunday dinners and other family gatherings, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. The point is....it was actually used! It didn't sit in the cabinet. No one waited for that very special occasion to put it on the table. I would guess that most people have china cabinets that serve as fancy displays for dishes that never, ever get used. In this day and age, people get married, have kids, go to work, etc., etc., and people just don't have room in their schedules to sit down for a meal with immediate family, much less extended family.
Today, when I pull out a fancy plate and put french fries or mac 'n' cheese on it and sit in front of the TV with Kevin to eat while we wind down from the day, it makes me happy because today is a special day, today is that special occasion. Even though we don't have a ton of family and friends gathered 'round, we have each other, and that is special enough.
Kevin and I celebrated four years of marriage on November 13. When we combined households, we ended up with an eclectic mix of furnishings. A lot of our stuff has been well-loved, including our dishes, many of which are chipped. (This excludes the melamine plates.....those things will last forever!) Given that we'd chosen not to buy anything new, we decided to break out a set of china I'd bought years ago.
Most folks tend to register for china when they get married. Ours was a second marriage for both of us, so we didn't register for gifts. In my early 20s, I'd seen this set of dishes in a mailer or something, and decided to order a set. I got plates and bowls and serving dishes and wine glasses....even a matching set of candlesticks and a planter! I probably paid about $1,000 for all of it. I made small payments on it for a couple of years, I'm sure. I have no idea what I thought I'd use this for. I just liked it. And, now, almost 20 years later, it basically sits in the cabinet collecting dust. The natural thing to do was to chuck our broken stuff and use this set. Why save it for a special occasion? We don't even have a formal dining room, so any grand visions of hosting a Downton Abbey-style dinner party can be put to rest.
I actually have another set of china that I inherited. It's beautiful and delicate and old, and it wears the scars of years and years of use. I think about that set, and when it may have been used. Probably for Sunday dinners and other family gatherings, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. The point is....it was actually used! It didn't sit in the cabinet. No one waited for that very special occasion to put it on the table. I would guess that most people have china cabinets that serve as fancy displays for dishes that never, ever get used. In this day and age, people get married, have kids, go to work, etc., etc., and people just don't have room in their schedules to sit down for a meal with immediate family, much less extended family.
Today, when I pull out a fancy plate and put french fries or mac 'n' cheese on it and sit in front of the TV with Kevin to eat while we wind down from the day, it makes me happy because today is a special day, today is that special occasion. Even though we don't have a ton of family and friends gathered 'round, we have each other, and that is special enough.