8.31.20

These may not look exciting, but I’m so happy to have them.

The two dishes with wavy edges are The Mashed Potato Dishes. These are the dishes my mom used for mashed potatoes for every big meal (because we had mashed potatoes for every big meal, obviously). They stayed in the hutch with all the other special/seasonal dishes and only came out for those special occasions. My sister found them in a donation pile at my dad’s house even though they had my name taped to them, and promptly rescued them and shipped them to me.

The plate on the bottom broke during shipping, unfortunately. I’m looking into possible repair options because this plate belonged to a set of china owned by my maternal great-grandmother. If I had to guess, my mom hung on to this plate with her other special possessions, because it was ALSO in the donation pile. The break seems simple, so I’m hoping I can get it fixed relatively easily.

It’s interesting to me how many memories I have wrapped up in special meals, recipes, or dishes. That feels like as much of the family history as anything else.

8.24.20

My grandmother’s maiden name is Hancock, and the family line goes back a looooong way. With that in mind, we made a little stop in Hancock, Maryland, on the way home from our adventure. It’s in the thinnest part of western Maryland and sits on the upper Potomac River and C&O Canal. It was HOT but worth the stop!

8.3.20

My sister sent me this picture of my mom (held by her older sister) that I hadn’t ever seen before. I wish it was a little less blurry, but what’s clear is that I see myself in her. I have a picture somewhere of myself when I was around the same age and from what I can remember, I look a lot like my mom does here: the red hair, the blue eyes, the set jaw, and the facial expression. I’m a pretty solid combination of traits from both of my parents – I don’t strongly favor one or the other – so it always feels meaningful when I can see a little bit of where I came from. I’m still looking for that other picture and if I can find it, I’ll share it. 

3.3.18

I went through some old photos this weekend and found this GEM, which finds Toddler Me pushing my brother in the back during a family portrait because I didn’t like him standing in front of me (this was an upgrade: until a few minutes before this, I’d kicked him a few times). I think I still make this face when I am not amused.