and drinking glasses.

I love drinking glasses and cups. I buy them all the time. My favorite ones are the singles, the loners, the leftover individuals on the clearance shelves. I see them all the time with bright yellow or orange stickers that say 50% or 75% off. I tend to get blue, teal, or clear ones. I am not a glass snob. I like plastic and metal ones too.

Then there are the individuals that are unique. They may have partners or be part of a set, but they have something unusual about them. I have metal tankards, beakers, measuring cups, egg holders and others.

Do I use them?

Yes, I do.

I tend to get stuck on one for a long time. I drink everything out of it for a while then I move on to the next one.

Life is like that sometimes. We get stuck on a thing that is the most important thing. Then we move on to the next thing. I suppose it is normal. Everyone has an obsession, right?

No?

What about plates? I don’t have that need any more. It happened when I lost my favorite green plaid plate. It was old. Remember that weird shade of green on the Currier and Ives dinnerware? It was that color green. I was so sad.

See what happened was….

I was getting divorced and my ex chunked my stuff out on the patio. Before I could get over there to get my stuff, a friend/family member went over there and took my favorite plate, my grandfather’s green coffee mugs and a quilt my grandmother made, by hand. The mugs were the frosty green on the outside white on the inside Pyrex. The quilt soft cotton triangles of pajamas from the grandkids. Irreplaceable things. I felt betrayed by said friend/family person. You know who you are…After that, any plate would do.

It is easy to say stuff does not matter. That things are just things. When we attach memories and feelings to things, the things then do matter. When the thing is attached to memories of love, or a pain and a hurt, they are not just things anymore.

I guess that is why I now use the cute loners from the clearance rack. No hurt attached to those. I do like vintage things though, memories and reminders.

~Lori O’Gara