China, chicken, cheerleaders, I just had no idea.

I can't remember if I told you all about getting my mother's wedding china. Well, anyway, when I was unpacking all this stuff, wondering where on earth I could put all these dishes and crystal, it never occurred to me what was just around the corner. I had signed up to have my daughter's cheerleading squad over for dinner this past Thursday night. It has been such a busy and unusal last few weeks, that I had sort of forgotten I was supposed to do this. As I pulled the menu together, I asked my daughter what she wanted to use, paper plates with their school colors or real dishes, she wanted me to use my mother's china and crystal glasses I had just gotten. So, here I go washing and getting all of this stuff ready to use, wondering why and how I would get all this stuff done, when it suddenly occurred to me. How neat to be using my mom's stuff with my daughter and her 13 cheerleading buddies. I immediately shifted from the "I can't believe I signed up for this, to, this is going to be fun and a memory." When I finally got the twice baked potatoes ready and chicken grilled, I stopped to look at how pretty my tables looked with the dishes, cloth napkins, silverware and crystal. I felt so warm, I felt my mother, I saw her smile and point her finger at me, telling me how glad she is that I am using all of her stuff. I know I might break something. I know I could place each piece carefully away, never using them, but when I saw all these loud, giggling girls eating off of the dishes my parents got for wedding presents sixty years ago, I knew then the gift was in the moment of remembering my mother and I simply had no idea when I asked for these dishes how special it would be to me.