Day Twenty-four: Gratitude

I am a person enslaved to her possession, I know it, I accept it, and I move on. But when I started the month of gratitude I promised myself I would not litter my month with things I am grateful for like my soft bed, my green leather jacket,etc. I have been very careful to choose only items with meaning and resonance for me. With that in mind today I am grateful for Fiestaware dishes. Yes, I love my Fiestaware dishes and I am not ashamed to admit it. The bright colors and clever designs make me happy. I love setting a table with the dishes and playing mix and match with hues.

I wait desperately for new colors to come out and stalk websites looking for new serving pieces. I obsess over when I will get a new item even if I have no purpose for the new marigold anniversary serving platter. I have made the pilgrimage to Newell, West Virginia to tour the factory and got all excited when I meet the lady who actually puts the round handles on the teapots. I am such a fanatic of Fiestaware that I even have large tattoos on each of my shoulders with a cup, saucer, teapot, sugar bowl, creamer, and spoon all falling down my back.

Like most avid collectors, my dishes are connected to something in my past. When I was a little girl my grandmother would always make me hot tea and serve it in a brightly colored Fiestaware cup. She would always add cream and let me put in as much sugar as I wanted. I can hear her voice even now warning me, "Don't scald your tongue." The dishes remind me of those amber tinted moments with her before things would get complicated in our lives. My dishes are place markers for those times and for that I am grateful, very grateful.