Teacups. This post is about teacups. Well, and what these teacups represent.

My mother was pulling her Christmas decorations out of storage and found my grandmothers' china. No. That's not an incorrect use of an apostrophe. The china of both my Grandma Nora and my Grandma Katie were together. I somehow inherited a metric ton of fancy painted roses and buttercups. Being the only granddaughter on one side of the family and the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter on the other I guess it was probably inevitable. I was hoping that my mom would have forgotten that the china was there but, alas, she remembered.

I lugged it home a couple weekends ago and finally washed it all last night. Looking at the china reminded me of how different my grandmothers were and what the china meant.

My grandmothers both got married in the late 1940s/ early 1950s. Thinking about them picking out their china patterns reminds me of those old black and white movies. The kind of movies where women wore pill box hats and dainty gloves. I couldn't help but thinking how much these china patterns remind me of who my grandmothers were.

My grandma Katie was concerned about appearances. She had to be done up just so for people. She loved roses. Her cup is on the right. Dainty and delicate with pink roses and gold tipped. The dishes are in excellent condition. That means that my mom took good care of the china after all the family get-togethers. There were also 22 placesettings, three sugar bowls and three creamers. UGGG!!!! They took forever to clean. I hate roses.

My grandma Nora was a humble God-fearing woman. She never had much, but what she did have she gave as much as she could (and probably a little more) to make sure that others didn't go without. I don't have much of her china. It's simple and pretty. There are chips and cracks. Not that the china was misused.... more that it was oft used.

Christmas was always a big deal in my family growing up. We would spend it shuttling around to see our grandmothers. After they passed, aunts would try to keep the traditional Christmas with my Grandma Katie alive. Unfortunately drama seemed to become more important than family and the huge family tradition kind of dissolved. My parents tried to breathe life into it a few years ago. Unfortunately their house practically burst at the seams with the mass of the family.

Seeing all the china made me realize how important my family is to me. We don't have a Christmas Eve tradition anymore. It used to be the day I looked forward to all year long. This year? I'm going to make sure that everyone I know who might be alone has someone to share their holiday with. Next year? I'm inviting my entire family, warts and all, to my cozy home. It may not be big but it'll swell for the holidays. Next year... it will be the day that I look forward to for the entire year, again.