Mugs

Here’s another Mom A story. As I said, she never throws anything away. Illustration: for a gift, I bought her two fine bone china mugs decorated with delicately painted pink roses. On a subsequent visit, I noticed that one mug had a chip—no, a deep gouge in the rim. I asked her why she kept it, and she told me she “alternated the good one and the chipped on so they would wear out evenly.” (Remember I said she was a little weird.) “It doesn’t bother me!” she continued.

I am not sure how long it takes to “wear out” a mug, but she was in her 80’s at the time. Oh, and she lives alone.

I couldn’t find a replacement locally. I copied the information from the bottom of the mug and got busy on the internet. I located the company in Staffordshire, England and exchanged a few emails, one including my MasterCard number. I ordered three—replace and make redundant, I figured.

She was well pleased when she opened the package. When we visited next, I observed that she had still not tossed the chipped mug.