Antique Cake Plates & Silver

While visiting family a week ago, we were very much surprised to find ourselves with a box of priceless family heirlooms. Since Mom's passing in 2006, my eldest sister and her husband have been helping to settle the estate of my grandmother who passed a few years before my mother and lived in the house next door to us growing up. We were given one of a kind, hand painted porcelain china plates and baby bud vases. My grandmother loved to paint china among many other home inspired hobbies.

To me, the real heirlooms of this family packed weekend came from my own mother. My Dad decided that he wanted all his children to have some of the beautiful things that he and Mom collected early on in their marriage, and throughout their adult lives together. Holly and I now have beautiful antique cake plates to adorn our own home, as well as pieces of Mom's sterling silver service set, pieces from her porcelain tea cup collections and the soup tureen from their wedding china to accompany our yearly tradition of making soups for our friends and neighbors in the fall. My Dad painstakingly ensured that each and every piece that was given to all of his children, were pieces that we each had connections or sentimental attachments to as a child or adult. What I refer to as the "baby cake plate," is a very simplistic modern looking glass cake plate. As a child, I remember during the holidays walking up to the side board in our dining room on Christmas Eve and looking eye level at the various homemade chocolates that were wrapped in green and red foils and displayed on this "baby cake plate." As a kid, the cake plate and candies seemed huge, and I know the look on my face was even bigger as I awaited to have my piece of candy, or more than likely simply snuck one and tried to rearrange the remaining candies to look like no one had snuck one. The porcelain tea cup and saucer from her collection is the set she made Postom for me in, the night before I went to the MTC on my mission. Mom and I stayed up most of that night talking as I was getting ready to leave for two years. All of these things, Dad ensured we could relate to with distinct memories. These items may have not cost a lot when they were acquired by my parents, but to me, these items are beyond valuable. They are priceless.

It was very emotional to be given these items, and to bring them back to our home in Seattle. I still have a hard time being in my parents home, looking at all the things Mom created for the home of our childhood and not being able to find her their creating or having a conversation with her like we use to. Mom exists in every nook and cranny of my childhood home and the memories flood extremely deep as soon as I step foot outside of the car when we go to visit my Dad. It's reassuring to know that Mom exists very deeply in the homes of all her children as well, even though she no longer gets to visit us all.

I feel the most grateful that my family absolutely loves each other to pieces, and we love spending time with each other. Not are families are that lucky or make the effort. It is an extreme blessing to have the relationship with my family and Holly's family that we both do. I honestly have mixed emotions about using these heirlooms from my Mother, as I don't want them to ever get broken or damaged. But I know she would want us to entertain with these, and use and love these pieces as much as she did. I look forward to using these pieces in the decades ahead, and eventually sharing them with our next generation.