Grammie's China - What a Story for Lizzy

Grammie’s China (my Mom’s Mother): Have you all begun thinking about what child will get what for an inheritance? I thought about it growing up a lot concerning “belongs”. We had such close grandparents and one in particular who allowed us to be very vocal about what we liked of her possessions! We would walk in her house and over many years, know that certain things had a slip of paper in it or taped to the bottom of it, that had one of our name's on it. My Dad was an only child so we knew where most all of his parents belongs were going. My Mom was raised in a very unconventional way (boy, that is a long story about how families and foster care worked during WWII!!) and was also treated as an only child. So I will get to the story about my Grammie’s china service that eventually involves our future Lizzy. My Mom gave me several items of Grammie’s that included her china service made by Wood & Sons, England patented March 1917. We believe my Grammie received it as a wedding gift from her Aunts in Canada. The pattern is very unusual in that it features a bird, sometimes referred to as a parrot and lots of orange flowers with green stems and blue accents. I actually thought it was a rather busy pattern. Over the years, I knew I would need to return it to my sisters’ families as it “belonged” to my side of the family. I just thought early on when I married Ford that there would be many of my family “pieces” that would go back to my Maine family or their heirs. That’s the way we wrote it in our wills. Ford and I have a very good life and have accumulated many things that would be passed onto J & L. So now fast forward many years, and here we are adopting. I kept looking at the china and thinking how it did not fit in with any of my décor or favorite colors (except for the blue) and always knew I was just taking care of it until it was passed back to the Maine families. It dawned on me a few months ago that it looks very Asian. You know, the English type of Asian. I asked my Mom if I could give Grammie’s china to our future daughter Lizzy? She said it would be fine. How neat is that, since my Mom’s Mother (Grammie) is not her biological Mom as Grammie and Grandpa brought my Mom into their family when she was abandoned... And raised her. Now I am adopting an Asian daughter who was abandoned. I hope someday she appreciates some of the family history and love that goes along with acquiring a little of our history that will now be her American history. The picture is of a plate from Grammie’s service and a snack plate (with indent for cup) I purchased on eBay. What fun to find these unusual china pieces. I love shopping on eBay!