Two weeks ago (on March 2) I taught a lesson that I borrowed from a book called “And the Bride Wore White.” One of the illustrations I used involved a Styrofoam cup, a mug and a china cup. Of course, I had to change it up a bit, so I used a Sonic cup, my Tervis cup, and a cup and saucer I got from my Granny. My cup and saucer used to sit on her corner shelf in her old house and I remember looking up at it when I was a little girl. My mom made me stand with my hands behind my back – I could look but not touch! When my Granny got ready to downsize and move next door to my Aunt Cecelia, she told us we could have some of her stuff. I grabbed that little cup and saucer. I’m sure it’s not worth a lot – it’s not priceless china (I don’t guess) but yesterday it became priceless.
My Granny is my Mom’s mother old. She lived alone, next to my aunt, until a few years ago. She worked her whole life – and it wasn’t easy I don’t think. I’ve blogged about her twice:
http://jim-merson.blogspot.com/2010/10/grannys-birthday.html
and
http://jim-merson.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-granny.html
During the lesson, I told the girls that the cup and saucer would become even more valuable to me, once my Granny was gone. I had no idea how prophetic that would be. Yesterday I got three phone calls while I was at school. I usually keep my phone on silent, but because I was waiting on some news from my Daddy, I had it on. One phone call was my Daddy, telling me about a procedure he has to have done this week. A few minutes later, it rang again, but I didn’t know the number and I didn’t answer it. A few minutes later, it rang again and it was my sister. My sister NEVER calls me at work, so I knew it was important. She told me, through her tears, that my Granny was gone. She fussed at my aunt in the morning, told her she wasn’t something right, ate her breakfast and went back to bed. My aunt’s friend Maggie, who’s been wonderful about helping Aunt Ceke take care of Granny, went to check on Granny when she was getting ready to go, and Granny was gone.
My Aunt Ceke said she didn’t want my Granny to have to go to a nursing home – and she didn’t. Aunt Ceke said she would take care of Granny as long as she could – and she did. Aunt Ceke has basically put her life on hold to take care of my Granny – and she did a great job. It wasn’t easy, Granny could be cantankerous. But now they can both rest.
I looked at my cup and saucer today—it sits on a shelf in my kitchen. It’s amazing how two weeks can change something so much. My cup and saucer went from valuable to priceless. It’s worth a WHOLE lot more today than it was last week.
