Stu and I bought new pots and pans yesterday. I know, big whoop. But in the process of cleaning that cupboard where the new stuff will go, I dug out all sorts of things. That espresso machine Mom bought me - I love it, I DO but counter space in this apartment just, well, darn. And with Monkey Grind what, three blocks away? And with Lisa who used to work at Uptown and who with Karena offer great espresso?
Reaching back to the lower shelf, however, I came up with a lovely little two-cup teapot. Handmade pottery stuff. And along with that pennyfarthing sculpture that sits in our living room window, and that revereware bowl with the blue enamel interior which is somewhere - darn it's pretty, where IS that?) that may be the last of the wedding gifts I have kept.
Did you know I was married once? And no, Stu and I are not married, though it's as if. I know that, you know that. Many people who've known me though, only since I moved to Boston and/or Seattle don't know that for a short time (a little less than two years) I was married. And while it was long ago and far away, it is part of my history. And seeing the items that were thoughtfully bought and given to us, items which I ended up with only when my ex-husband died, is bittersweet and, well, mostly sad. But thinking about the people who gave us this stuff, the joy of that day, the fabulous party that was the wedding of Andi and Alva? That's pretty damn cool. So, we'll dust off the little teapot and put it where we can see it at least. It shouldn't be stuck in the back of the cabinet. It's not at fault that okay well we don't drink a lot of tea (never did), but it's still a well-designed little object.
Meanwhile, we note that buying that new stuff means deciding about the old stuff, the old pots and pans that I have owned probably since Alva and I moved into our apartment or around then. My stuff and pretty new because I grew up with revereware and it really has lasted since um, gulp. All those years. Bittersweet and fading memories for sure.