I was trying to understand one day, why I find inviting family and friends to our dinner table so interesting. Then I realized what my emotions were all about.
When we sit down together to share a meal, not only are we swapping family stories but we are using dishes and other items from relatives that are no longer with me.
At my last party, everything was displayed on an immense bright blue tablecloth from Lima, Peru. We used my mom’s fabulous silverware mixed with dynamic FiestaWare from Arizona. We passed a bowl filled with vegetables that a friend carried in her backpack all the way from Thailand. We admired my Auntie’s gold plates and other collectibles from friends. Every item on the table had a story.
That’s the reason I like entertaining. I remember the love and joy that I shared with that person. And for that period of time, I have a personal reminder that they existed and contributed so much to my life.
Truly I do have a Table of Memories. Do you experience the same kinds of feelings when you think about some of the dishes you use?
I have a pink depression glass bowl that my grandmother used for jellied salads and a two-handled sugar bowl she used for cranberry sauce. To honour her, I still sometimes serve a jellied salad in that bowl. Cranberry sauce always goes in the sugar bowl, although sometimes I now use it for sugar because a couple of years ago I found a matching creamer in a secondhand store.
Thanks for your memories. I am writing my memories for my immediate family and it truly is wonderful to visit the past and remember what it was like to be eight years old or fifteen or …
Your description of the table setting was beautiful.
I have exactly the same emotional response that you do, Jodie. In fact, I don’t even hold off til special occasions!
When I pull out my nice little paring knife, I think of the aunt who gave it to me as a wedding shower gift. Ditto the bowl I usually use for salads, which came from old friends of my parents. So many things that I use every day or every week come out of the cupboard along with my gratitude and nostalgia for the person I associate with it.
Lovely post! Thanks!