a first drink out of very old glasses.
As long as I can remember, my mom had a box of 6 glasses sitting in a glassed built in cabinet in the old house. We never used them and my mom was even reluctant to let us handle them. They were never used on any "special occasions" at our house and they sat for a long time, unnoticed in their pretty box.
Because my parents burned wood in that house, we always lived in fear that it would burn down. My mom was very depressed I think and was drinking heavily before she moved (and for a time afterward) before she moved over to the new place my sister and I got for her and my dad. It seemed she had given up on the house and it became an increasing hazard - she seemed oblivious and it was sad. There wasn't too much of value in that house but there were a few items of sentimental value. I told my sister to take those glasses home with her for safekeeping and she did.
The glasses were in a beautiful old fashioned box. On the back of the box in barely visible pencil, it says, "From Grace Maxfield" the year of 1924. If anything happens to me give them back to her"
I am not sure but I think my grandma Maxfield brought these for her mother and father in law. I will have to ask my mom's brother if he knows anything about them. If she purchased them in 1924, they are at least 87 years old. I believe my grandma gave them to my mom because I know we had them for a long time.
The last time I was home, my sister gave them to me. I had them sitting on a bookshelf for a while, and last night, I decided to wash one out and have a glass of wine in it. I guess I was feeling nostalgic and a little sad because many of my old people friends are not doing so well. Life is short and someone, after all these years, should use these pretty glasses.
There were ancient dead flies in the glass I carefully took out and washed. They are beautiful and thin and fragile. Below is a picture of the glass on top of the box, which has a Christmas design so I guess my grandma must have given them to her mother in law during Christmas of 1925. My mom was not even born yet.
As I held this glass and drank my wine, I wished the glasses could talk and tell me their story. Grandma Grace "amazing Grace" Maxfield was only 19 years old in 1925 and just married to my Grandpa, James Valentine, in April of that same year. I imagine her, a thin teenager, with red hair, married to my grandpa an older man at 28. She probably was so excited to buy these - maybe at the Ben Franklin store in Ontonagon - for her mother in law. Her mother in law, thinking she would use them for special occasions only, put them away, but not before penciling a note on the bottom of the box. I wish my mama was around so I could ask her more. I wish I could ask my grandma about them too.
I raised a silent toast to my grandma Maxfield, and the great grand parents I had never met. Somehow it made me happy to put the glasses to use - for the first time. I wrote this down so that if one of my children gets them when "something happens to me" they will know the story...and I hope they will drink out of them and not stash them away.
Because my parents burned wood in that house, we always lived in fear that it would burn down. My mom was very depressed I think and was drinking heavily before she moved (and for a time afterward) before she moved over to the new place my sister and I got for her and my dad. It seemed she had given up on the house and it became an increasing hazard - she seemed oblivious and it was sad. There wasn't too much of value in that house but there were a few items of sentimental value. I told my sister to take those glasses home with her for safekeeping and she did.
The glasses were in a beautiful old fashioned box. On the back of the box in barely visible pencil, it says, "From Grace Maxfield" the year of 1924. If anything happens to me give them back to her"
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| If you look closely you can make out some writing |
The last time I was home, my sister gave them to me. I had them sitting on a bookshelf for a while, and last night, I decided to wash one out and have a glass of wine in it. I guess I was feeling nostalgic and a little sad because many of my old people friends are not doing so well. Life is short and someone, after all these years, should use these pretty glasses.
There were ancient dead flies in the glass I carefully took out and washed. They are beautiful and thin and fragile. Below is a picture of the glass on top of the box, which has a Christmas design so I guess my grandma must have given them to her mother in law during Christmas of 1925. My mom was not even born yet.
I raised a silent toast to my grandma Maxfield, and the great grand parents I had never met. Somehow it made me happy to put the glasses to use - for the first time. I wrote this down so that if one of my children gets them when "something happens to me" they will know the story...and I hope they will drink out of them and not stash them away.
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