Wednesday, August 5, 2015

THE CUP WITHOUT A HANDLE



can you imagine???  I think you probably can relate to my friend Elizabeth at the 
Little Black Door 
when her 
Blue & White came crashing down

it made my mind go back in time to those days of broken stuff and a certain day 
when I had had just about 
E.N.O.U.G.H.
I actually threw that cup at the wall and scared the bajeebers out of Charles when I 
shouted 
"if you're going to break it Charles, then surely you can break it better than that!"

(he was 8...he was helping me by unloading the dishwasher...and broke yet...another treasure)
that night, when I looked in on his sweet little guy self, in peaceful sleep...I felt like such a horrible mother...did I actually throw a cup at the wall over his head???

I sat down, full of sorrow and wrote this poem...


The Cup Without a Handle


The picture frame had flowers
The cardinal had a crest
      The cup had a handle
  The broken trifle dish my best

   The topiary had roses
         Grown in my garden last year 
    The sofa was a handsome print
           But no one confessed to the tear

   The china baby had a head
With a bonnet of crochet lace
        One hundred dollars became nothing
             Especially without her face

     The carpet has only one stain
                   That’s significantly Orange Crush vomit
   The roller blade rut in the kitchen
           Has an iron imprint on it

   The lapis rabbit had two ears
  The dryer stores a dime
The cuckoo clock had two hands
     And once kept perfect time

      After years of collecting
             A passion becomes immense
      Yet with baby hands and clumsy feet
    It doesn’t make much sense

           This year’s vacation film
       Is in a camera without a winder
A chair without a leg
  Only serves as a reminder

That the trade of a treasure
Through different eyes I see
That nothing can compare
       To what only once will be….

     A giggle in the dark
A band aid on the knee
      A wet oatmeal kiss
A lullaby till three

A smile without a tooth
     A left foot in a right sandal
  A tree house on the ground
                And a cup without a handle

Now...here I am...all those years later...
I talked to Charles on the phone yesterday and he said to me
"mom, I gotta go...gotta situation here"
.... I heard a crash in the background as he hung up...his 2 year old had broken something...and I just had to laugh.

As I took these photos I realized 3 things

1.  Could I have not done a worse job glueing?

2.  Why did I save all the broken rabbits and not the rest?


3.  The hands that broke these treasures are a treasure to me...and I would not trade how they are today for all the world!

ooopsie...it's leg came off



15 comments:

NanaDiana said...

Oh yea---we all screwed up as mothers sometimes, didn't we? LOVE the poem-it is perfect. xo Diana

At Rivercrest Cottage said...

your lovely poem brought tears to my eyes. As mothers we do have our scars and moments we are not proud of. Your poem really brought up the past! Maybe one day I'll get up the nerve to post my poem to my oldest daughter when she delivered her happy news, I'm afraid I didn't take it well. Poem is called "Do I Look Like A Grandma To You"

Amber ~ The French Pressed Home said...

Ugh, Gina! I'm mad at you for making me cry. You have no idea how much I relate to all of these things right now. Okay, yes you do. Teddy bears are ceiling fan fighters and matchbox cars have definitely left their dents in anything that jumps in front of them. I dare not admit to any of their wrong doings to my husband's mother because there is a mighty long list of things I'm privy to that the father of my children did as a boy. All that said, there is nothing sweeter than those little arms around your neck and a kiss on the lips x 2.

White Lace and Promises said...

The poem and the post made me cry. There are some moments I wish I could do over, but there are more memories when I got it right. Such a precious post. I wish I had kept the broken things that the little ones touched and tortured. Now I have a cabinet full of collections and there's nothing that my grandbabes can hurt. They are just "things."

Sarah said...

The heart of a mother wrote that poem. '-)
My mother-in-law, mother of four boys, with the youngest two being twins, was also the wife of a career military man. They moved frequently and he was also away for extended duties frequently. One thing she learned that she freely shared was, "Enjoy things while you have them. " I think that is good advice for all of us.
Thanks for sharing this heartfelt post.

Taylor Greenwalt said...

Great poem...very sweet and touching!

Debbie@Mountain Breaths said...

Very touching! I gasped when I saw Orange Crush. The very same thing happened in our household :-)

Karena said...

Gina what a most poignant message and at a time like this....thank you so much for your kind comments on my site....
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena

Irene said...

What a wonderful poem, it's true, I'd give anything to have those little hands around again.

Brandi said...

Really needed to read this post and poem. My daughter was unloading the dishwasher yesterday and chipped one of my favorite bowls. Thankfully I kept my cool. Your words made me realize that.

Anonymous said...

you weave your words so beautifully, I enjoyed this so much,,you melted my heart,

Elizabeth @ The Little Black Door said...

You are the sweetest. Thanks for the sympathy. :) This was a really great post. Just what I needed to hear/read. Cheers to you my friend!!

Row homes and Cobblestones said...

Gina,
I love your poem ... This post touched my heart, thank you.
xo,
Vera

handmade by amalia said...

How funny, Gina, and quite right. If you're going to do something, do it properly.
Great poem!
Amalia
xo

Algodão Tão Doce said...


Olá amiga, vim desejar-lhe um abençoado início de semana.
Poema fantástico...lindo!!!Minha vó dizia vão os anéis e ficam os dedos!
Tudo nesta vida passa!!!

Doce abraço Marie.