By Reba Phelps
Growing up in household with very limited resources (we were poor) we never had expensive dishes, china or even matching glasses. I am truly not sure where our dishes came from. I know that some of our juice glasses came from oatmeal boxes from when my mother was a child. They were small, plastic and did not hold very much juice. I do remember that my mother saved green stamps and would sometimes land free dishes from the grocery store.
Once I grew up, moved out, and got married I was gifted with fine china. You know the kind that you register for and it is so expensive that one person may buy you one piece of it? I ended up with everyday china, fine china and Christmas china. I was so fancy with all of these dishes that I would sometimes just stare at them in amazement. I didn’t use it very often because I was scared that I would break something that we could not replace.
Shortly before my mother passed away she was dabbling in collecting dishes from her own childhood. She loved vintage dishes. Her and her sisters would take turns going to flea markets to see what they could find and exchange dishes. It was her hobby. But, during this time she was still using the same old Correlle Butterfly Gold dishes that we had when I was a child. She wasn’t using her newly found vintage dishes, she just liked looking at them.
After she passed away and the children divided her cherished belongings, my brother ended up with our not so cute childhood dishes. I never thought about them again until sometime last year. It was the craziest thing; I just woke up one morning and wanted a set of those dishes. I was on a mission, I just wanted to collect a few…not to use but to stare at them so it could remind me of my childhood. What does one do when they are on a mission? You make a post on social media stating that if anyone runs across these beauties to let me know, I was building a collection.
Online messages and text messages started rolling in. The very first message was a friend from Goldonna who found a bowl, she told me where to pick it up and refused to let me pay her back. It was the sweetest blessing to me! She even found me another piece for me. I was so blown away by the sweet gesture. Soon after this, a friend from work found several plates and a platter from an estate sale in Shreveport. She sent them to me in the courier run, from bank to bank. After this another friend from work found me a whole slew of coffee mugs from an antique store in Branson. She brought them back from her vacation and of course, sent them with the bank couriers.
Our sweet couriers have aided and abetted many dish transfers unbeknownst to them!
During my dish collecting I was offered to buy several complete sets, but my heart would not let me buy a whole set. I found complete joy in collecting it piece by piece. Each piece held a sweet story of where it came from and who sent it to me.
The very last dish I received was not even on my radar, it was a Correlle Golden Butterly casserole dish that included a lid. This was the score of all scores. Not because I did not have one but because a friend I have not seen since high school found it for me. She lives in Texas and told me she would bring it when she came to visit her parents in the Campti area. When we were finally able to catch up with each other it was almost as if we never missed a beat. There is something so special about high school friends. I like to call it a forever bond.
I love how the Lord lets us experience the sweetest and most meaningful moments over something so simple as a vintage dish. It isn’t so much about the dish, or the hunt for the dish as it is the stories attached to the dishes or the journey the dish takes to make its way to you. Anytime we abide in him, he will show us unspeakable joy and contentment in the little things. Especially, the little vintage things like friendships.
“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend come from his earnest counsel.” – Proverbs 27:9
