Epiphany

Today is Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day or Twelfth Day, in Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican churches.  We're Protestant, so this religious holiday is not officially celebrated in our churches; I never knew what it was when I was growing up.  But I think it's a lovely observance, and I now consider it the official end of the Christmas season at our house.

I mentioned in an earlier post that our son gave me a beautiful Christmas platter this year, and I wanted to show you since this will be my last post related to Christmas until the season rolls around again.

This is a Johnson Brothers pattern that I had never seen before; It's called "Twas the Night" and as best I could determine, it was only carried by Dillard's Department Stores.  I happened across these online in early December and fell in love with the pattern.

Our son asked me what he could get me for Christmas this year, and I told him about the dishes.  Little did I know what a challenge it would be to actually find and acquire some.  I told Will I would like to have four salad plates and maybe four coffee mugs, and depending on how much he wanted to spend, he could just get me two plates or two mugs, whichever he preferred.  I didn't want him to spend a lot because this is his first job out of college, and his money is tight.

He went to our local mall in Winston-Salem, and we had forgotten that our Dillard's store doesn't have a house and home section.  So he went to the Dillard's in Greensboro on his lunch hour one day, and I got a phone call from him that went something like this.

"Mom, I'm at the Dillard's store, and let's say that hypothetically, I was looking at those dishes you wanted.  :)  Suppose they didn't have any salad plates or any coffee mugs, hypothetically, would there be any other pieces you'd like to have?"

Me:  "You're kidding -- None?!"

Will:  "None"

"Well, there were some other nice pieces, but I feel like they're too expensive for you to get me."

"They have some commemorative platters; would you like one of those?"

"How big are they and how much do they cost?"  And so on and so forth.  Then I said that I couldn't believe they had sold all the salad plates and mugs, and he replied that the sales clerk told him someone from Replacements, Ltd. came in earlier and bought up a whole bunch of the dishes.  Thanks a lot, Replacements, Ltd.  If I want anymore pieces, I can probably expect to pay three prices for them now.  Oh well.

 The bottom line here is that I LOVE, LOVE this platter, and I will always treasure it because my boy bought it for me.  :)  I'm a big fan of Johnson Brothers and a big fan of transferware, so this is a win/win for me.

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday this year, and for that I am truly grateful.

Do you have a favorite gift that you received this year?  I'm looking forward to the year ahead; I plan to do my best to make this a good year and to strive to be grateful for all my many blessings.  Thanks for reading me, and I hope you'll continue to follow along in 2014!

All The Best,

Denise