3232. Stoneware © Bruce Goodman 10 June 2025

Valerie and Grant had been married for forty-two years. As a wedding gift way back, a well-to-do uncle and aunt had given them a stoneware dinner set for table placings of eight. The brand was Mikasa and the style was Libretto. Of course for the first twenty years or so they took it out only for a special occasions, but now that all five children had flown the nest, they decided they might as well use it for their everyday crockery. “There’s no use having all our nice things locked up in the cupboard until we die,” said Valerie. They had broken only one dinner plate and the sugar bowl. The sugar bowl had been knocked off the kitchen bench onto the floor at some stage, and the dinner plate had broken when it was knocked hard taking it out of the dish washer. But the dinner set had weathered well. Over the years with daily use the occasional plate had been marked a little. There were some knife scratches on some of the stoneware plates for example. Still, it mattered little. They were their everyday plates. To make any wear and tear marks from daily use even, Valerie always took the bottom two plates from the pile, and Grant, to make any wear and tear marks from daily use even, always put the newly washed plates at the bottom of the pile. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story