Use the Good Stuff
When we moved in 2015, my mother was moving also, downsizing from a 4-bedroom house to a 1-bedroom apartment in another city. While I had my own challenges packing up our household with two young children underfoot and a husband that was away M-F, my mom faced greater ones as she sorted through belongings that took a lifetime to accumulate. She threw away, gave away and sold gardening equipment, tools, craft supplies, kitchenware, furniture and more. But she was still left with a roomful of items, some sentimental, that she wanted to share with me and my three siblings. Silly as it might sound, of all the things, a vintage ice bucket made me nostalgic for my childhood. It reminded me of the dinner parties they hosted that lasted late into the night, their laughter carrying down the hallway as we tried to sleep. I think my love of gathering must have started there.
One of my brothers took the ice bucket, I took the dining room furniture (and subsequently repainted it), and between the four of us, we divided the rest. Some of the things were wedding gifts to my parents, and sad to say, I had never seen. A beautiful glass serving dish that was more like a work of art was in pristine condition, because it had remained in its gift box for probably 40 years. Its beauty was hidden away, for fear of breaking it, or perhaps because ordinary life didn’t feel special enough to bring it forth. Or maybe it was just forgotten after all the years of not being used. Mom wasn’t sure. No judgement. Life happens.
This piece came to me. I carefully wrapped it and brought it with us to our new home – along with SO MUCH other stuff. Exciting as it was to have the blank canvas of a new space to work with, it was daunting to have room after room filled with cardboard boxes, trying to figure out where to put it all. But what I knew for sure was that I was determined to unpack every last thing and use them all. I didn’t want to wait for Thanksgiving or Easter or a fancy dinner (which is not how we do dinner around here anyway!) to bring out the good stuff. We are here today. We have each other. Let’s celebrate that.
What have you inherited into your home from family and friends over the years? Go ahead and pull out that fancy serving platter for chips and salsa which we all know is a staple food group. I have been known to decant Two Buck Chuck into the wine decanter my grandparents bought in Manhattan in the 50s “for entertaining.” I’m completely entertained by this, and I think they’d be happy to know I’m using it. Put some occasion into your everyday life. Think about where the nice stuff came from and appreciate and celebrate the small moments in your days.
Don’t save it for some day. Use the nice stuff today.
– Carrie + Emily