I was rushing after I locked the animals up
And knocked a plate from the bedroom wall as I was undressing for a bath.
It was just an old plate,
It had no mark on it
It had no monetary value.
Chris was in bed and looked up from his book
" was that your mother's plate?" He asked
" it was" I said simply and hurried off for my bath.
And there I cried for a very short minute or so
Mourning for a cheap plate.
When my mother died I was the one that cleared out her home.
Her style, was very different to her children's
And so most of her household items were sold off.
My sisters I think took her jewellery and photos for safekeeping
There wasn't much else of value
I took a little ginger jar with a chipped lid, a jam making pan
And a green and cream patterned plate which always hung on the wall.
The fact that I had chosen this keepsake eluded me then
And the upset , I felt at its silly destruction an hour or so ago
Surprises me now
Hey ho
It may have been old and cheap but it's rather beautiful. I'm not surprised you felt a bit upset at its final shattering.
ReplyDeleteIt is never the item itself, but what it represents- something of your mother's that she had touched.
ReplyDeleteWe just buried my younger brother-dead too young at 51. He was a trapper and a welder, but only worked enough to pay for days spent fishing and hunting. His estate is tiny, but the memories are great. He did things many folks just dream of- panning for gold in the Yukon, hunting for big horn sheep in the far north mountains of Canada. He could fix anything that needed it, and often did. We will miss him and his wonderful stories. We made sure his eulogy was a collection of those stories, put down on paper so the next generation will not forget.
Take care, and sorry about the plate
Hugs, Barb from Canada
I think the power of it comes MORE from the fact I chose it.
DeleteDoes that make sense?
Yes, that makes sense to me. Never mind though - you unlocked the last little bit of harsh grief held inside that plate when you broke it, and now it's gone.
DeleteEmotions always catch you when you turn your back
DeleteUnderstated, simple, beautiful, and now missed. Sorry aabout the plate John.
ReplyDeleteBy pure coincidence I came across this information today.
ReplyDeletekintsukuroi - "to repair with gold"
The art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.
The fact it was your mum's plate makes it priceless :-)
oh I love that idea
DeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about the plate being knocked down and broken. Accidents happen. Have you considered making mosaic coasters with using this plate? There are so many things you can make out of broken plates. You could even make a stepping stone and add the plate pieces to the concrete. This would look lovely in a garden or in around your yard.
Just warm little thoughts to keep your Mom's plate close to you.
I would have cried, too. Some things are little treasures to us and we don't realize how much until they are gone. Hugs
ReplyDeleteSometimes the strangest things will open the floodgates.
ReplyDeleteit's funny how 'stuff' effects us. don't throw it away. use it some other way. plant the broken part edge down in your flower garden and just let the pretty pattern show amongst your flowers. i was into mosaics a while back and you can cover table tops or line a serving platter with broken pieces cemented in place. or just glue it together and hang it back on the wall!
ReplyDeleteIt may be broken but you still have it John. x
ReplyDeletetis a beautiful plate. perhaps someone can repair it?
ReplyDeleteEmotions are the wierdest thing, aren't they? You never know when they're going to pop up and kick you in the gut. Lane
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth
DeleteSuch a nice plate too you clumsy old sod! I'd have cried as well.
ReplyDeleteBet yer Mum was looking down on you and shouting, 'Careful! Look out! WATCH IT! Oh fer Christ's sake. Well, that's my boy!'
She would have been more vociferous than that.....,....Nuff said tom
DeleteIt was a rather nice plate. The breaks look quite clean. Based only on getting a price for crack repairs on a smaller plate a couple of years ago, I would guess something over £100 for a good repair.
ReplyDeleteAndrew I think I don't need to keep it
ReplyDeleteFunny that
Aw John that is sad. Can you stick it back together?
ReplyDeleteI think the plate is beautiful. I like jaz@octoberfarm idea. put it in your garden somewhere. It will look beautiful there.
ReplyDeleteor glue it yourself and put it back up.
cheers, parsnip
My grandmother didn't have much and most of it was inexpensive but I treasure those bits I have. I have broken a few things too and had a good cry; and laughed when I realized she'd just say to chuck it. :). Love ya.
ReplyDeleteFunny how a 'thing' can make us feel so many different emotions...but they can. xo
ReplyDeletehttp://crafts.creativebug.com/repair-broken-ceramic-plate-1561.html
ReplyDeleteHave a go, can't hurt? x
The sentimental/emotional value of your mother's plate is difficult to replicate, don't you think John? Your reaction is very appropriate and normal. Maybe break up the rest of the plate and do something 'arty' with it....so as you will still have it.
ReplyDeleteYes! I made a collage out of broken dishes on my nightstand...blog post for tomorrow.
DeleteLarge enough pieces that it can be glued? Bless your heart...hugs
ReplyDeleteOh John - so sorry. This made me tearful too. I can't say more. xx
ReplyDeleteOh John. I have cried (a puddle large enough to drown myself in) about very similar things. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteIt's the fact that you chose it to remember your mother by, not the value.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mother's mother died I chose two small brass trays...abysmal workmanship and design...because she always let me clean them when I stayed with her as a child and I remember her showing me how to do it; her voice and her lavender water being bound up in their existence.
They were nicked by people supposed to be looking after my house in France and if I could get my hands on the thieves I would strangle them.
Or as grandmother used to say
I'll swing for them....
It's very pretty. I cherish little pieces of the past and find it difficult to throw them out.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
:(
ReplyDeleteNot so much what it looks like, but what it represents in your life. A piece of the past.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
DeleteI think you have it just right. My relationship with my mother was not always a smooth road..... But the plate was a link with the past
Someones one mourns for what they never had.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel.....
ReplyDeleteAww, sorry for that John. I agree, I think repurposing it would be neat. A mosaic? I saw a plate once that was broken and was broken into smaller pieces and put into a small round glass bowl with a candle in the middle. Sounds weird but it was actually very pretty.
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand. Have several things from our late parents that mean a lot to us as well. Not monetarily but definitely sentimental!
It has a look of 'Mason's Ironstone' about it. As you say, probably not of huge monetary value, but a lovely plate and filled with memories. Breaking anything that others have spent decades looking after is always a bugger. RIP nice plate.
ReplyDeleteSo strange the feelings we have locked in some of our most ordinary looking possessions, maybe the time was right for the tears to fall and breaking the plate simply let you release them.
ReplyDeleteRIP nice plate, but the memories you held are now in John's heart, along with all the others.
Maybe it was somehow time for it to break, so you could feel what you're feeling now.
ReplyDeletehey ho
Els
Oh John, I broke two large Spanish bowls - wedding presents. We were at a BBQ. Someone asked why I hadn't used plastic bowls & I answered that I've loved using these bowls over the past twenty two years.
ReplyDeleteMy mother keeps asking her six grandchildren to choose " things " She'd love them to have something they associate with her from the wonderful holidays she gave us from her home on Anglesey. The kids say, " That's morbid Granny "
Mum doesn't want them to say when she's gone " Oh I loved that *** of Granny's - wish I had it to remember her "
I will have the task of sorting mum's home one day, so I can be careful about her things, but she would rather give now.
I think breaking your mum's plate was a sign that you needed a good cry xx
It was only a 30 second cry
DeleteBut I know what you mean
Oh, John, I know that feeling having done the same thing with a few 'cheap' relics of my sister's life. I'm glad you took the photo (even of the broken plate); I think that will become the keepsake to replace the actual plate. And, just think, you'll never have to dust it.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry for this John. I know that when we have things from our departed loved ones that they are extremely important to us. I will say that, looking at the photo, it very well may be able to be super-glued back together.
ReplyDeleteMy dear John, don't have that plate repaired as some of your readers suggest. There is no point.
ReplyDeleteYou cried, for thirty seconds, and I too welled up reading your account. Worst thing about being my son's mother that when I'll bite the dust I won't be around to help him tidy up after me. Chokes me big time.
Bear hug.
U
Of course you were upset..it wasn't an old cheap plate...it was your mother's. The memories will last even though the plate is no more
ReplyDeleteFunny how the most ordinary of items can unlock a flood of emotion. It's what they represent, that catches you unaware.
ReplyDeleteWeeping for the plate is also weeping for the past and your mother. You will always remember your mother.
ReplyDeleteCrying can be cleansing and it sounds like that is exactly what happened to you.
ReplyDeleteWhen my patio table glass shattered several years ago, I sat among the million pieces of glass and sobbed like a baby and continued to sob the entire time I swept it up into the dust pan. Why? I have no idea, but it was the only thing my husband and I purchased with our wedding gift money. My husband knew enough to simply hug me and let the emotion pass. He's a keeper.
Oh sweetie that's sad. It's never the monetary value but always the mnemonic value of heirlooms that makes us love them. My heart goes out to you - but at least you have good memories. xxx
ReplyDeleteAre you going to glue it together?
Ursula and BBB WEre right
ReplyDeleteI don't need to,repair the plate.....
I'll never forget the day I was enthusiastically dusting at work and accidentally broke my boss's husband's cock. I couldn't look him in the face for days after it.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget the day I was enthusiastically dusting at work and accidentally broke my boss's husband's cock. I couldn't look him in the face for days after it.
ReplyDeleteCock?
ReplyDeleteCeramic cockerel - sorry I nearly forgot my staunch Scottish Presbyterian upbringing there.Apologies for any offence.
DeleteYou were crying because you miss her...not the plate.
ReplyDeleteThat link with the past is broken. No wonder why you cried.
ReplyDeleteMegan you are right
DeleteIt was the past I was mourning
Oh, John, you were mourning your Mom and the plate was a piece of your mother's daily life, a tangible link with her. We do cling to these relics when our losses are so huge.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little part of your mother! i understand completely.
ReplyDeleteSave the pieces and make a mosaic. A little stepping stone, perhaps.