Mom's breakfast room was one of my favorite rooms in her house. I liked the look of the room, but the reason it was one of my favorite rooms is because what happened in the breakfast room.
Breakfast, of course, happened in the breakfast room (often accompanied by burnt toast!). Breakfast for me is usually just coffee. Black coffee. And lots of it. The best part of the day is having the time to sit in the breakfast room and drink this massive amount of coffee in a relaxed manner. It is also best shared with someone else. Mom and I spent many hours in her breakfast room drinking coffee. Whenever I came back to Florida after a Shelby visit, Mom always called me to tell me the thing she missed most was waking up to coffee and me sitting at the breakfast room table. We often said we solved a lot of the world's problems during that time! We talked about everything. Those moments will always remain some of my fondest memories with Mom. I think she feels the same way.
One Valentine's Day I sent her a pink coffee mug. I knew it would be symbolic of these morning spent with her. I was always amazed at how the morning would creep close to noon! I am an early riser, so this means a lot of time was spent drinking coffee. I was always relaxed on my visits to Shelby. It was special.
Of course, breakfast isn't the only meal we ate at that oak table. We ate most of our meals there unless there were too many people to fit around the table. It was usually big enough once we added the two leaves. Whenever Jim and my kids were able to come to Shelby, we often had delicious meals at Mom's house in that breakfast room. The Yeltons usually joined us and we would have some wonderful conversations and laughs.
Mom and Gene loved to play gin. They played gin almost every afternoon at that breakfast room table. Mom said that whenever Gene came over he rarely made it past that room! I think she let him go down the hall to the den whenever there was a ballgame on tv. Seriously, I think those games of gin were a blessing to both Gene and Mom. They had a lot of good conversations and some laughs every day when they played. They also had some serious betting going on! Mom said she usually lost one to two dollars to Gene each time. I think he must have had the upper hand....or he often had the luck of the draw! I know that since Mom moved to Florida, probably the thing she misses most is those afternoon gin games with Gene. I know he is lonely without her, but he does play gin frequently with his brother, Bill.
There is a plaque on Mom's breakfast room wall that says: 'Be kind to your kids. They choose your nursing home.' Stratford Court is far from a nursing home, but Mom totally and completely trusted Jim and me to find it and choose it for her. It was a bit stressful, but I think I can rest easy now. Mom loves it there and we all know it was the best thing for her to do. I give Jim a lot of credit for doing the research and for finding Stratford. Mom loves it that her son-in-law actually did this for her and that he actually wanted her here. None of those mother-in-law jokes come out of Jim's mouth! He really loves Mom and does not find her to be a burden in any way. I know this to be true because he keeps her stocked with Snickers Bars and Baby Ruths!
Mom went to the local art gallery, Buffalo Creek, and bought an odd statue. I know Martha thought she was a bit off her rocker! It is unusual and not quite Mom's usual taste. It is basically a wood trunk with a skinny neck and a flat head. It is supposed to be a man, and I can see the artistic interpretation in the piece. I think Mom bought it with my son, Joseph, in mind. Joseph is an artist and a musician and because of that, he has been stereotyped into one who likes 'weird' stuff! I guess he doesn't mind. When Grandma moved, I made sure Joseph took this piece. I knew he would truly appreciate it.
Mom's breakfast room table was used for meals and for playing cards. It was also used for letter writing, bill paying, newspaper reading and wordsearch puzzles. Mom used to complain about being worried about 'losing it,' as she calls it. I told her she had to exercise her brain as much as possible. One way I decided was to have her work on wordsearch puzzles. All throughout school, as a student and a teacher, I used wordsearch puzzles. They were a great tool to help students use their brains and logic and to search for spelling words or vocabulary words. I started making wordsearch puzzles on my computer and mailing them to Mom to work on. She really got into them. I tried to theme each one and personalize them so that they were more fun and meaningful. One Christmas I found a giant wordsearch puzzle book and gave it to Mom. I knew she would always have it and would not have to wait around for me to create new puzzles and mail them to her.
Now that Mom is at Stratford Court, she keeps that wordsearch book next to her chair in her little den. She says that she is never bored as long as she has something to read or that puzzle book to work on!
Mom's breakfast room was decorated with all sorts of things. The serving counter had Joe's artwork entitled Arizona Sunset hanging above it. He gave that to his grandma one Christmas knowing she loved to display things that her grandchildren made and also knowing the breakfast room was a perfect spot for it. It is a great piece and after Mom moved, I made sure that piece came with me. It now hangs in my little hallway where I have a lot of Joe's artwork displayed.
Porter is another creative grandchild. He made a collage for Grandma one Christmas. He put pictures on it and used each letter of Grandma to start a sentence about her. It is really sweet and special and it had a prominent place on the wall in her breakfast room. It now hangs in her bedroom at Stratford Court and she sees it, along with Porter's picture, every morning when she wakes up.
We often tease Mom about having so many pictures of Madeline around, but then, so do I. Madeline has always liked to have her picture made, unlike my boys. Also as a dancer and performer, there have been many photo shoots and opportunities for pictures. It's hard not to have an abundance of these pictures on display. Mom's breakfast room had a little collection of Madeline photos in the corner of her counter. I think the boys understand why there are so many pictures of Madeline around. I hope they don't feel slighted! Tim, Madeline's future father-in-law, got a 'tour' of Mom's apartment one night after we had dinner at Stratford Court with her. He saw the collection of pictures of Madeline (and Eric) on her refrigerator and he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "looks like Madeline is the favorite!" Of course we laughed and I knew he didn't mean it, but I have since gotten a collection of pictures of all the other grandkids to put on Mom's refrigerator to even things out a little!
Mom had a blue antique bowl on the center of her breakfast room table. She brought it to Florida with her and it is in her den. It has always been a piece that brings a smile to us. We call it her Buick.
When Jim and I were young married 'kids' without a lot of money, we needed another car. Sharing a car was getting kind of old. Gus Gregory is a dear family friend and he had an old Buick 225 that he was trading in for a new car. When he learned that we needed a car, he sold us his Buick for $225.00. He was just a kind man doing a huge favor for two struggling newlyweds. It was a bargain. Jim loves to brag that we drove that car for a year and then sold it ourselves for $325.00! It was probably one of the best car deals we ever made.
One night we were visiting Mom and Dad and having dinner at the breakfast room table. We commented on the pretty blue bowl, and somehow in the conversation we learned that Mom paid $250.00 for the bowl. It was extravagant, but she said it just happened in a weak moment! Jim was totally amazed and he said astonishingly, "that is more than I paid for my Buick!" Thus, the Buick bowl. We call it that to this day.
Mom has some interesting things in her breakfast room that people gave her for gifts. Mom really is a good cook, but she likes to claim she isn't. I guess as she has gotten older, she has truly gotten away from cooking a lot, so the jokes about her cooking have continued. (The burnt toast is not a joke, however. Just ask anyone who has been over to Mom's for breakfast!) Someone gave her a cute porcelain plaque that says: 'Many people have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead normal, healthy lives.' Mom wasn't insulted. She proudly displayed this plaque right on her cabinet!
Another friend gave her a beautiful mosaic stepping stone inscribed with the 23rd Psalm. It is also proudly displayed in her breakfast room. It is a wonderful reminder to all of us that the Lord truly is our shepherd.
Mom had some Russian drinking vessels on the wall in her breakfast room. We moved those to Florida and hung them in her kitchen above the tea cart that we also moved from her breakfast room. It made that little kitchen look special! Mom and Dad purchased these drinking vessels in New York at Yale R. Burge. They are unique 18th century vessels. These same vessels can be seen in "Fiddler on the Roof," which is always special to me because I know that was Daddy's favorite musical. He loved it! I cannot hear "If I Were a Rich Man" or "Sunrise Sunset" without thinking of Daddy.
Another unusual thing Mom had in her breakfast room were sconces on the wall. They are made out of real spindles from a loom. They are significant because Shelby really became a mill town after 1920 and the cotton industry was important to its growth and success. We left those sconces on the wall when Mom moved, but when I was there just last month I saw them and decided to ship them to Florida to my home. I now have them hanging in my breakfast room above the old wooden table crumber that Mom also had hanging in her breakfast room. So many memories.
Mom had a couple more things in her breakfast room that hold significance for me. One is a beautiful needlepoint pillow on the captain's bench under the window. This pillow is of two kittens and I love it! When I asked Mom if someone made it for her she told me no that she bought it because I liked cats and it matched the sofa. Sounds like good reasons to me. Mom isn't much of a pet lover, so I felt like she really did have me in mind when she bought the pillow.
Probably one of the most interesting things Mom had in her breakfast room is an antique high chair. She did move it to Florida and has it in her dining room. It has always been a conversation piece. She bought this high chair when I was pregnant with Joseph. She actually used that high chair for all 3 of my children and for Porter whenever any of the grandchildren visited. I can't believe an antique high chair survived all of that! It was not the most comfortable or practical high chair, but it will always be special. I have dibs on it if I ever have a grandchild. But I guess I can let Mom enjoy it for her great-grandchildren for a while!
I suppose that the breakfast room in my house is used about as much as any room in the house. Jim likes to use it for his 'desk.' He claims the internet connection is better there than back in our bedroom where his real desk is. I think it just feels more homey and keeps him closer to the actions of home. Plus, if you strain your neck you can see the tv from the breakfast room table! I often use the table for my craft projects, so I can't say much.
My friends and I play bridge at my breakfast room table and my family and our guests eat most of our meals there. Sometimes we eat on the lanai or in the dining room for special occasions and sometimes we eat in our easy chairs in front of the tv! That is a perk for being empty-nesters and having raised 3 kids who ate 3 meals a day at the table.
Many Christmas cards have been addressed at my breakfast room table and games have been played on my iPad at that table. We play cards, Yahtzee, Apples to Apples and a myriad of other games at the breakfast room table. We sit there to drink our morning coffee and read the newspaper. I do the crossword puzzles out of the paper at that table. Jim and I enjoy morning conversation sitting at the table before our busy days start. It's nice to sit in the breakfast room and look out onto the lanai and see the pool which always looks so inviting. I have sat alone at my breakfast room table and said my prayers of thanksgiving, and I have sat there and cried over my losses and my sorrows.
I looked up a definition of breakfast room. The American Heritage Dictionary entry reads like this: 'Breakfast Room. n. A room, as in a house or hotel, in which meals are eaten.'
This definition only skims the surface. A breakfast room can be a central meeting place for families. It can be a significant place for conversation. I cannot count the number of conversations have taken place around Mom's breakfast room table or my own.
I say pour another cup of coffee and let's talk and let's play.
And memories are made of this.
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