OLD BUT SHINY
When my friend Louise mentioned she needed to get rid of an old china cabinet I immediately said "I'll take it!" Which might seem strange, seeing as how my husband is a well-known furniture designer. But, I had been wanting a storage cabinet for the basement, and Paul's beautiful hand-crafted work, museum quality, does NOT belong in our flood-prone and dingy basement.

Anyway, it was a pleasure to unpack some of the boxes we moved here 3 years ago. This piece of amber pressed glass, a small oval candy dish, belonged to my Great-Aunt Ethel. I don't think it has any monetary value, but I have always loved it. Aunt Ethel, a generous soul, would fill it up with m&m's when we children visited. I unpacked other old friends too, pieces passed down or received as a wedding gift, or bought for their "paintable" qualities on thrift shop forages. Lots of memories of dear people seem to be bound up in the cold hard glass. Now this display cabinet gleams like a private altar in our dark and murky basement, warming my heart.