Another Day in the Country
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
Even though it was quite common in her era, my mother never ever had a fancy china cupboard. She had built-in cupboards in various new and lovely homes. She had a walnut dining table and chairs that were purchased when my sister was born in 1950; but she didn't have a china cupboard to match.
When Mom moved into her new house in Ramona, we found a china cupboard that matched her dining room set and brought it home. She loved it. It had a light in the top half that illuminated the dishes displayed. She was too frugal to leave it on for long, but once the dishes were arranged to her liking, she'd turn on the light for a little bit and revel in the beauty of her china cupboard with long stemmed glasses on the first shelf beside the gold-trimmed drinking glasses that she'd received as a gift from a friend. And then, she'd turn the light off!
On the second shelf she displayed her china — purchased many years ago from Montgomery Ward. White china with a pink band and a silver rim. A gift from my grandmother.
Grandma had given me a similar set of china when I got married, only mine had a gray band. "Good and serviceable," Grandma said, "I think I'll get a set for your mother for Christmas." Mom did need a set of dishes but she had her heart set on dishes with an apple blossom design. "Why those aren't even china," said my grandmother when I told her of Mom's secret desire. "Furthermore they'll go out of style before you know it," she paused, "And these are on sale — I can get more place settings." That Christmas Mom got pink china dishes from Gram, with a silver band, and she was grateful and pleased.
All through the years she has guarded that pink china from breakage and chips. She'd never let us put it in the dishwasher. If something chipped she'd glue the chip back on. "Be careful with those," she'd admonish, "they're my good dishes."
For Christmas, a year ago, we found a place setting of the apple blossom design that she had once longed for at an antique store and bought it for Mom. Just one place setting of an old heart's desire. She really didn't need more, we reasoned. After all, she usually cooked just for one! Now she'd have her very own place setting.
Mom smiled a little hesitantly when she opened her present — whoever received one place setting of dishes? We told her of our hunt for this pattern, how much they cost now at the antique store, and how we knew she'd always wanted these dishes. She said, "Well, I was right all along and Grandma was wrong. They would have been a good purchase. How much did you say these dishes would be worth now?"
Mother is gone. I'm living in her house, still with some of her furniture in the rooms and this week, I claimed another piece of the house — the china cupboard. I moved Mom's pink, chipped china dishes down to the right bottom side of the cupboard and put my matching gray, rarely used china, down on the left bottom side — behind closed wooden doors.
The top of the cupboard I filled with red pottery dishes that I love, blue stoneware dishes covered with yellow sunflowers, and unusual glassware. Mom would say, "I think you are part gypsy — where do you get your taste?" She much preferred softly-tinted pink dishes.
And when I was finished with my dish-arranging task, I turned on the light in that cupboard and left it on all day, just so I could walk by and see the display. I've never had a china cupboard before, either. And now, on just another day in the country, I've claimed Mom's.
