In order to get to the Tiffany crystal champagne glasses out for Thanksgiving, I had to dig deep. I mean deep.
When we lived in Connecticut crystal lived in special glass-fronted corner cabinets in our dining room. They were accessible, but clearly meant only for special occasions. We probably used them to toast my engagement and on Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving. They made the move along with my parents to California 28 years ago and I’m not sure we’ve used them since. So this year I decided to break them out.
I had to dig deep. In the dining room hutch, there were 8 heavy duty boxes closed up with packing tape and labelled (bless my organized mother) “wine”, “champagne”, “shots?”, and “demi-tasse” – I’m still not sure what that means exactly but I think it’s espresso?
Of course, I am doing this Christmas Eve around 4 pm as we are also trying to get to church for the 5:30 children’s service.
Inside the box labelled “champagne” there are, as promised, 8 (I thought Waterford but actually turned out to be Tiffany’s) champagne coupe glasses individually bubble wrapped and aggressively taped up. They had to make it across the country, after all. I opened them and polished them (no time to wash but they looked clean after all the years !) and we toasted Christmas Eve together. It was a lovely and festive evening with my parents, husband and daughters.
At some point during the evening, my dad says to my mom “remember what happened with our wedding glasses the night of that party?” My mom apparently has no recollection. He shares a story I now know I’ve heard before. Early in their marriage at one of their Upper East Side dinner parties, after carefully hand washing the champagne glasses they were sitting, drying on a towel on the counter. Someone – we’ll never know who- reached into the cabinet above to get down a serving dish, and yes, it dropped onto the drying glasses sending cut crystal shards all over the kitchen. I am sure this caused significant expense and heartbreak and probably some choice words. (Come to think of it, perhaps this is why they don’t get used that often.)
New crystal was eventually purchased and we were really never the wiser. They are sparkly, delicate and beautiful and it’s fun to have something to make certain dinners special. At this point in life, we know we should be using and enjoying our special things all the time. Why not?
But this story hits home with me right now for different reasons. What if we hadn’t opened these boxes and used the glasses with my parents this year? Maybe we wouldn’t have heard the history and anecdotes (even if cringeworthy) that bring these items to life and tell the stories associated with them. For many of us, it’s the stories and the connection to the past that make these meaningful.
It’s encouragement to continue the “decluttering journey” in a way that’s a little bit fun and brings stories to life. Because without the stories, they are just glasses.
Who Gets The China? 