I Broke My Mom’s Paragon Fine China

When I was six years old, we were having a lot of relatives and guests at our house since my grandfather was celebrating his 60th birthday. During family reunions and parties, my mother takes out our finest dinnerware from the glass display cabinet, which includes her Paragon Fine China. We only use these china on special occasions and my mother was immensely proud of her collection. She inherited it from my grandmother, who gave it to her as a gift to their wedding.

The Paragon china that my mother owns is a Tapestry Rose cake plate with seven dessert plates, which she used for her specialty, the home-made Devil’s food cake. Being a kid, I was not allowed to eat using the china because I might break it, and I was given a paper plate which really upset me. I was a naughty kid back then. When my mother wasn’t looking, I sneaked and got one of the dessert plates. I got a piece of cake and when I was walking back to the table, I accidentally tripped – the china smashing to pieces on the floor together with my uneaten cake.

My mother was upset, but she didn’t spank me. She just looked sad. That was when I vowed to look for another piece of the dessert plate with flowers on the border and at the center when I grow up and already earning money. I know that it would mean a lot to her.