Time Machine

My grandparents recently downsized their living space from a town house to an apartment in their retirement community. During this process, they decided to shed some of the things that they wouldn't need anymore. Word went out. Who wants what?

I spoke up. I wanted Grandmom's china cabinet. I wanted it for two reasons: I have china that has been sitting in boxes since our wedding day that deserve a better life. And, I thought it would be cool. You know, something like: "Hey Robyn, nice cabinet." and then, "Thanks! It was my grandmother's!" I like stuff like that.

So,on a rainy day I sent Dave on a train that would take him to a truck we would borrow to haul the piece back to his work, where it would sit in storage until this week. This week, he lugged it here: two trips, with our car.

Now, I haven't really seen it since it was sitting in my grandmother's dining room over a year ago. We put it together, cleaned it, and I realized: this is big. It has that dark and heavy style of the 70's. Big, serious, metal doorknobs. Decorative wood work. I was surprised how a piece of furniture could make me feel so nervous.

So, I started unpacking crystal, china, serving ware, vases, and placing them inside. I almost had an anxiety attack.

The cabinet started looking like a time machine to my 40's. Does a 29 year old New York mom do this kind of thing? I can't think of anyone my age that has anything remotely like this. I started worrying what people would think. Especially my cool friends (Znoj!). This cabinet was seriously starting to age me and I was having regrets.

What do I do?

Then, after dinner, when the table was cleared (for the first time in like 2 weeks), and the dishes were done I was sitting on the couch looking at the cabinet. It didn't look daunting anymore. It looked solid. Stable. Reliable. It reminded me of my mom and my grandmom and the women in my life who take entertaining seriously. Who take family seriously. I thought of Thanksgivings when it was just us kids and my parents. We'd open up the china cabinet to get out the good stuff. Even though it was just us. It was a really comforting feeling.

I fell in love.

So, when you come to visit and see this serious cabinet of serious wood, holding serious pieces of china and crystal, you might be tempted to take me more seriously.

Don't.
It's still me.