Tea for Two

            Was I six or seven the Christmas I received the tea set?  I’m guessing six because the memory is tied to my grandpa’s house and, though we didn’t know it at the time, Christmas of 1961 was our last Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma. 

            Dad had left for good earlier that year, leaving my mom with four children:  ages 8, 6, 3, and newborn.  My sister and I attended a public school within walking distance of our newly rented house in a rather shabby area of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and our little brothers stayed home with the babysitter, whom we called Grandma Livermore.  (That really was her last name.)  Mom taught elementary school physical education in Grandville.  We went to Grandpa and Grandma’s house out in the country every weekend and every holiday. 

            Grandpa liked our weekly visits.  By then, Grandma was a silent, still presence because of Parkinson’s Disease.   All I remember of her was being afraid she would fall down.   I am sure Grandpa supplemented our Christmas, providing the Santa Claus gifts, but those are not the gifts I remember.

            What I remember is my one-dollar tea set from Woolworth’s.  (Years later, I learned that Mom had all of a dollar to spend for each child that Christmas.)

            That tea set proclaimed to me that I was a big girl now to be the proud owner of fragile dishes.  How careful I was with them!  How exciting it was when Mom would make up tea I could pour from my tiny pitcher, adding sugar from the matching sugar bowl and milk from the matching pitcher!  Those tiny cups of tea were delicious.

            In May, Grandma died, a withered shell of the vibrant woman she once had been.  We continued our weekend stays with Grandpa, and it was on a Saturday morning in November that he died of a heart attack after breakfast.

            At the time I had no understanding, naturally, of what an enormously difficult time this must have been for my mother.  I do remember missing Grandpa, who had been grandpa, dad, and friend to me, all rolled up in one.  During the funeral dinner at his house, I wished he was there.  Then everything would be perfect.

            I still have the tea set.  Admittedly, it is missing a few pieces.  Someday when I have a granddaughter, I will give it to her and enjoy some tea parties again.  I’ll even let her pour.