This lovely set of Norwegian pastel plates and demitasse cups with gold interiors sat in my grandmother's china cabinet. As a very little girl I admired them so much. After all they were gold and Grandma would serve hot chocolate in the cups and little almond cookies on the cold rimmed plates. "When I am gone, these will belong to you because you are my first grand daughter and then you could remember me by them" she told me. I hope I am at least a little more tactful and a little more mature now because she told me that every time I would come to her house I would run to her china cabinet and ask her "Are you going to die soon?" I really don't remember saying that but Grandma got a kick out of telling me the story. "Well Ranae, since I really don't hope to die very soon anyway, I will give you the set now, but you have to keep them in Mommy's china cabinet until you get big". Well they stayed in Mom's china cabinet until I married and brought them with me.
My own grand daughter listened intently as I told her the story of how I came to have the pretty little pastel set with the bright gold interiors. I could tell by the excited look in her eyes and the way she stared wistfully at the set she was thinking that as the oldest grand daughter maybe she would get the cups some day. Last week I told her "Well Sophia, since I really don't hope to die very soon anyway, I think you better have this pretty set now to remember me by, but you have to keep them in Mommy's china cabinet until you get big."
Sophia's gold tea set in her Mommy's china cabinet.
