I like to walk through Home Goods. Sometimes, when I run errands, I find an excuse to stop by and just do a lap. There are times I’m on the lookout for something specific-like a new pot to replace the planter on our front porch that blew over in the wind and broke. Other times, I just look.
A few months ago, I had my daughters with me, and we made a good Home Goods stop after a quick trip to the grocery store. Wren found a jar with a wren on it. We decided it would make the perfect tip jar for her cookie sales at my brother’s pizza restaurant. Nestled in the corner of the same shelf were bowls that I was immediately drawn to. I thought it was the flowers that trimmed the outer rim. But it wasn’t until I got them home and saw them in the cabinet a few times did it dawn on me. The bowls have a cream background with tiny brown flecks. Those flecks reminded me of the dishes in my Nanny’s kitchen, her kitchen in her old house. Her dishes had a similar background and maybe they even had flowers too, I can’t remember now. I haven’t thought of those dishes in years. What happened to them? I wonder now, suddenly needing to see them again.
As I remembered the plates, I remembered the kitchen. The perpendicular design of the laminate bricks that lay across the floor. The tiny staircase that connected the front of the house to the back. I remembered crouching on the landing with my cousins, spying on the grownups, sharing secrets. The wallpaper was happy, yellow flowers with a trace of green. There was a bubble in the wall above the bench that flanked one side of the kitchen table. To the left of the bubble was a shelf that held a cuckoo clock that I don’t remember ever working. There was a kitchen prayer plaque that I now own as well as angel figurines, which now sit by my kitchen sink. I can close my eyes and see them then, in their original place.
The table was always cluttered. The napkin holder, mail, the plastic salt and pepper shakers, and always toast crumbs. There was a polaroid photo stuck to the wall, of me and my grandparents at a special Grandparent’s Day Event at school.
Beneath the kitchen sink was a gadget that held my grandfather’s screwdrivers on the cabinet door. He would always joke that he’s unscrew our bellybuttons and our legs would fall off. There was a dutch door leading from the kitchen to the dining room. We loved playing ice cream shop or restaurant , swinging the top part of the door open. This was a rare occurrence. My grandfather often yelled when we played with the door.
It’s probably been thirty years since I set foot in that kitchen, yet as I write, I remember more and more….all because of those tiny brown flecks in the bowls.
Where There Is Joy 
Isn’t it amazing how such a powerful and complete memory can be retrieved from the simplest trigger – brown flecks, for example? (I have to say, the unscrewing the bellybutton and legs falling off joke would have scared me to death as a kid!)
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I love this! You described the kitchen perfectly with such small details but also added your grandfather’s words (about the bellybutton) which made the kitchen come alive.
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I would not have guessed that it had been thirty years since you’d seen these images in real life. The details are so precise, like the bubble in the wall and the polaroid on the wall and the crumbs on the table. I really like the screwdriver joke. Gonna have to stow that one away.
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Your distant memory drew you to the bowls. It’s so cool how when we observe we remember – those memories and all their details come into focus. This slice is a perfect example of the power of observation and letting the mind go back.
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What beautiful, vivid memories you’ve captured in this post, Jess. It’s funny how important places can stay with us.
BTW: This part of your writing cracked me up.
“Beneath the kitchen sink was a gadget that held my grandfather’s screwdrivers on the cabinet door. He would always joke that he’s unscrew our bellybuttons and our legs would fall off.:
What a kidder your grandfather was!
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I love it when something sparks an unexpected memory trip just like the short cuts in candy land. My mom’s dishes had those flecks but they had quails on them. I think they are a special kind of pottery.
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My mom’s were Red Wing.
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I may go down a rabbit hole now!
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I know Right?
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Wow! It’s amazing what what small things can trigger such large memories and feelings.
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The bowls were calling to you! Such a vivid picture of your Grandmother’s kitchen. Glad her memory lives on in your house- bowls and the couch!
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I love this! I love how one tiny thing can bring up memories we think we have forgotten. Your descriptions helped me “see” your grandma’s kitchen. Thank you for sharing.
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Wow – the memories! I can practically see the kitchen. I loved the screwdriver holder and your grandfather’s jokes, and I was blown away at the end when you said it had been thirty years since you were in that kitchen. As I read, it felt like you were standing in it and I never would have guessed it had been so long. What a wonderful slice.
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So many memories via one little memory. It is amazing all the objects and people our memories can hold onto, until something triggers them back into our minds. Lovely to read.
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