Memories Are Made of This: Something Old.....

I love to play bridge. I love everything about it. The game is so interesting....never dull. Some days it seems like the first day you ever played. Some days bridge is like something you could do in your sleep. I think most bridge players feel the same way. Once you play bridge, other card games pale in comparison.

Just as much as I love the game itself, I love all the other aspects of being in a bridge group. My bridge friends and I always joke that we come for the food and the conversation....the laughs and the 'information." I swear, I wouldn't know how to find a good plumber or know the best trashy novel to read if it weren't for my bridge friends. We often leave with little notes written on our tallies with the phone number of a cleaning service or a website to find out about park hours.

The best part of being in a bridge group, however, is the friends you make. My bridge friends are some very important people in my life. I am not sure what I would do without them. They make me laugh, cheer me up, listen to me whine, come up with great social outings, bring food when I'm sick, or call to check on me just because they sense something's just not quite right. They take me to physical therapy after surgery when I can't drive and they ask about my mom and my children. Bridge friends are the best source for good old belly laughter and a shoulder to cry on when you are sad. I hope my bridge friends know how much they mean to me.

On the eve of the first anniversary of my sister's death, my bridge friend, Carol, passed away after a short but fiercely aggressive bout with cancer. I still can't believe she is gone and I already miss her very much. It will really hit home when our group gears back up for our regular bridge Fridays this Fall. I know Carol thought of our bridge group as her very best group of friends. She felt the sisterly bond that we all feel.

Mom encouraged me to learn how to play bridge. I can't thank her enough for that little push towards this incredible game. I use the word game lightly, as it is really so much more than that.
Mom played bridge. She played in some ladies' groups and she and my dad played with other couples. But when I think of Mom and bridge, I think of her with those incredible ladies who served as her best friends.....literally for life. She would meet with Edith, Edna and Arzie some mornings and they would enjoy playing bridge. Sometimes I tagged along and I remember so well sitting on the sofa at Edna's house watching tv and eating gumdrops and drinking Pepsi. I could hear my mom and her friends laughing and talking and discussing important matters. I know all too well now how meaningful that was.
As I said, bridge friends are awesome!

I loved all of these ladies for different reasons. Edna was funny. She always made me laugh and I thought she was an amazing woman. When I got married, she gave me an antique bowl from her house with the nicest note. She wanted me to have something of hers that I would look at and think of her. She knew me all too well! I have that bowl on the dresser in my bedroom and every time I look at it, I do think of Edna. I am so thankful that she thought enough of me to give me a little piece of her home to grace my home. It has been proudly displayed for 36 years!

I have another bowl that reminds me of the bowl Edna gave me. It is green, my second favorite color, and it came from Jessie's house. When Jessie moved into Sterling House, she told Martha and me to pick out some things from her house that we might like. I took this bowl. I think I was drawn to it because of the bowl I had gotten from Edna. It's funny how one thing can spark another. I keep this bowl on a table in my living room. Both of these antique bowls remind me so much of two ladies who made an impact on my life. Neither Jessie nor Edna are here with me on this earth, but I have a little tangible bit from them to enjoy looking at each day to go along with the love I have for them in my heart.

Jessie was like a second mother to me. I can never say enough good about her. Jessie gave me countless things throughout my lifetime, but certain things stand out. One was a glass swan-shaped dish. She gave it to me on my 16th birthday with a note saying that it came from my late grandmother's house. My grandmother died when I was 7 and I have some very fond memories of her, but I don't think I really had anything to remember her by. I treasure this swan and I keep it behind glass doors along with some other treasures in my secretary (which also came from my grandmother's house and then my house when I was growing up). I remember Jessie telling me she didn't think it was very 'valuable,' but she just wanted me to have it. She had no idea how valuable that swan is to me. I really appreciate Jessie thinking to give me something from Nanma's house. It was just so like her to be this thoughtful. I think she knew just how sentimental I am.

Another equally thoughtful gift was a punchbowl. Jessie gave this to me when she no longer used it. I know this punchbowl must be at least 60 years old. Jessie always had wonderful holiday get-togethers at her house. Jessie, being Jessie, had a separate punch bowl for the kids. It was always filled with some yummy punch and an ice ring. Jessie always did things up the right way! I have used that punch bowl so many times.....and always with some type of ice ring floating in the punch. This punch bowl has seen many birthday parties, Christmas brunches, Thanksgiving get-togethers, and many other parties. All gatherings seem more special with punch!

Speaking of Jessie, another item I took from her house when she downsized is a Fenton glass candy dish. It's one of those beautifully 'old-fashioned' looking dishes. The best part of this dish, besides the fact that it was Jessie's, is that it is green and pink! I was drawn to it because of the colors and the style. It has little 'feet' on the bottom, a bumpy surface and ruffled edges. I think it was a common item back in the day!
Interestingly, we were in Mt. Dora, FL last week and Madeline and I went in several shops. The two things she was drawn to were cute little teapots (I'll have to admit, they were really pretty) and some amazing art glass in a gallery just filled with nothing but all sorts of art glass. As current and modern as this art glass was, I realized how much it really reminds me of some of the old Fenton glass. I guess artistic beauty doesn't know what decade it is.
I keep this candy dish on the end table in my den. It is always full of Dove chocolates, Hershey kisses, or minature candy bars. I pulled it out of my china cabinet to put candy in for bridge one night and I realized how much I love it and that I wanted to keep it out on display at all times. I am glad I did. Not only do I have a little chocolate at my fingertips at all times, but I have another lovely memory of my sweet aunt.

Several years ago my cousin Ellen sent all of the girl cousins an invitation to a little luncheon. She mentioned that she had a 'surprise' for us. We were all speculating about what the surprise could possibly be! Ellen is another one of those thoughtful people that I love, and like me, she is very sentimental. When she was cleaning out her parents' house to sell, I went over to sit with her and go through boxes and boxes of pictures that came from Porter Brothers. We had a ball laughing, then crying, then reminiscing, then laughing some more! Ellen has a fantastic memory. But back to the surprise for the girl cousins.....no, she wasn't pregnant, didn't reveal some deep dark secret, nor had she won the lottery. Ellen had found some of our Grandma Porter's crocheted doilies. She had them cleaned and did some repair work on them. Some of these doilies were small and some large. They were different shapes and different patterns. She had them gift wrapped and we each just chose a box. I remember getting a small round doily and Martha got a large diamond shaped one. After we got home from Ellen's, Martha and I decided to trade because she liked the small one better. I kept my large doily draped on the back of a chair in my living room up until a few months ago. I have been carrying it around trying to find a shadow box for it. I thought I would frame it in a large shadow box and hang it on the wall. It seemed that would preserve it better. I am afraid it will eventually get messed up on the back of my chair. I love that Ellen took the time to do this for each of us and that she did it in such a creative way. That Ellen is something else!
My Grandma Porter died when I was 5 years old and I do remember her, but the memories are very few and very vague. This doily is just a little piece of my Porter past and I treasure it.

When Mom and Dad moved into their new home on Lynhurst Lane, Mom gave me a soup tureen. I remember this soup tureen sitting on our kitchen table on Ridgeview Drive. I love it. I don't know that Mom served soup out of it very often, but it always looked lovely in our kitchen. I have displayed that soup tureen in my kitchen for the past 31 years. It was on my kitchen table for a long time, but now I have it in my hutch in the breakfast room. It is a fond memory of my mom and the kitchen I spent most of my growing up years in.
Next to this tureen in the hutch, I have another soup tureen. This was given to me by my friend, Josephine. It amazes me sometimes the thoughtfulness of some people.
Josephine is a lovely lady. I don't see her much any more, but I loved the time I did spend with her. I was in a theater group for mnay years and that is where I met Josephine. Like bridge groups, theater groups are a special breed and when you are doing theater, there is a strong bond amongst the members.
Josephine's mother passed away and Josephine had to take care of all her mother's affairs and do something with her possessions. She saw this soup tureen and it was something she didn't care to keep for herself or her daughter, so she gave it to me. I didn't know Josephine's mother, but I really love the tureen and appreciate Josephine giving it to me. She told me she knew I loved to cook and that I appreciated antiques, so she wanted me to have it.
Our little theater group has dispersed, but I will always remember Joesphine fondly whenever I look at that tureen. She may not even remember giving it to me, but the lasting pleasure it will bring me is priceless.

Marie is another friend I met through the theater group. Marie is an inspiration. I don't see her much any more, but I like to keep up with what's going on in her life. Marie is over 90 and she goes like the energizer bunny! I recently learned that she just returned from a trip to The Holy Land. That trip is on my bucket list and I'm not giving up on it. If Marie can do it, then so can I!
Like Jessie, Marie downsized. One time at theater rehearsal, she brought me a little surprise. She gave me a small cut glass plate. It is so beautiful.....just like Marie. She has no idea that whenever I serve something on this lovely little plate, I have to tell people about her! It provides not only a means of serving food, but also as a story-telling prompt!

So many wonderful people have come in and out of my life. There is a saying about people coming into your life....some for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. If you stop and think about this, it really makes you appreciate each and every person you deal with, even if it is for a brief time.
It is a joy to have these gifts that can remind me of these people that God placed in my life for a needed reason, the ones that made a their mark if only for a season, or the truly special people who will be in my life forever.

And memories are made of this.