A Wedding Shower

Two gleaming, freshly polished silver tea sets sit in my house right now in anticipation of my niece's bridal shower this Sunday.  Originally, the sets belonged to my grandmothers and each set is as different as the woman who owned them.  They now belong to my Mom and she generously agreed to let me borrow them for this special family event. 

I loved both of my grandmothers, Nana and Gammy, and it's a tender feeling to see the tea sets resting in their new and temporary locations.  I knew my Mom's mother very well and have lots of wonderful, warm memories of her but I didn't get a chance to know my Dad's mother the same way since she died when I was very young.  I do have some special memories of her and her home but mostly I know her through family stories.  I often think about the way they lead their lives and know that they both were unusual women.

Besides the tea sets, I'm also using a crystal punch bowl that also belonged to my Dad's mother.  My sister brought it to my house and our Dad joked about handling such a treasured family heirloom by saying, "If you break it (the crystal bowl), you're out of the will!"  We both laughed because we knew that would never happen!

I can picture each of my grandmothers using their tea sets and I know they would love that the sets are part of the upcoming bridal shower.  For sure, they will be with us and we'll tell lots of stories about them during the party.  As my niece begins a new chapter in her life, another generation will come to know their family history while also adding to it.

It's been a lot of work but now it's time to have fun and celebrate!!