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Friday, December 17, 2010

Sixteen Year of Memories…



Today, December 17th, my oldest son turned 16. Man he grew up fast. It seems like that in the last year or so he has become very attached to his childhood and is constantly reliving it. In his young life he has buried an aunt, one great grandmother, and two grandmothers all of which he was very close to.


When planning to celebrate his birthday I asked him what I could do for a special dinner. His reply was simply, “I want it exactly the way my grandmother would have done it.” My heart sank but I knew my mother was smiling down from above knowing she had really made an impact.

My mother was the queen of the formal dinner. At least once a month she had a formal sit down dinner in her dining room. She changed her china, crystal, and linens around like most people change their underwear. We always dressed up for that one dinner, but it was a wonderful meal. Her philosophy “If I’m going to cook all day on a fine meal the least you could do is dress to suit me.”



My mother collected lots of different china patterns. She had 32 sets to be exact. I used one of these sets “Old Country Roses” by Royal Albert, for his dinner. I also used my grandmother’s crystal, “Rosepoint” by Cambridge, and my godmother’s flatware “Francis I” by Reed & Barton.



The meal was planned based on one of JB's favorites that my mother use to prepare for him. The dessert was a cookie his paternal grandmother always made, an almond spritz cookie as a green Christmas Tree.

His presents were my biggest challenge to wrap. He wanted simple presents; $100 in $2-bills, a roll of fifty cent pieces, and a roll of gold dollars. So to make it interesting I have a turn of the 19th Century Seed Cabinet with 103 drawers. I placed his presents inside different drawers and he had to open everyone to find all of the gifts. He seemed to have fun with it.



Our guest list was also simple, Donnie, Tanner, Courtney, JB’s girlfriend, our good friend Nancy, and myself. JB provided vintage Christmas music played on his record player. The Christmas tree made the perfect back drop.



The dinner was a success and he was happy. He reminisced of times gone by. Its great knowing the memories of his long gone family live on through him in everything he does. As he grows I see it more and more everyday.

Happy Birthday JB! I love you!

Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank the Guide to Art School for listing us on their top 50 Antique Blogs. I also want to thank all you, my readers, for taking the time to help make this blog such a success. Thank you all so much!!!

1 comment:

  1. So sweet and touching! Thank you for including me. It meant so much to me and it made me feel like "family".

    ReplyDelete