A piece that tells a story...

Last summer my grandparents decided to move from their home of 40 years. It was a hard decision and many of us will always miss it. Their home was a safe haven from the rest of the world. Nestled in the countryside of upstate New York, their custom mid-century home is surrounded by lush gardens and tall trees, it feels like you're living in a storybook. Every summer we would escape to our favorite place and I didn't expect last summer to be my last.

When we arrived to my grandparents home, my grandmother had placed everything she was willing to part with in the dining room. It was sort of fun to dig through all the boxes and stacks of books to find things that we remembered seeing growing up or things we just thought would be cool to hang onto. I knew that she had set aside an antique crock pitcher for me and I was excited to see it in person. Decorated with three blue stripes and stamped floral designs, this piece was heavy and (very) old. She actually had two of them and she let me pick which one I liked the most.

I love this vase and I'll never part with it. As each season has approached, I've placed different floral arrangements in it: bare branches for winter, dried hydrangeas for fall & now fresh purple lilacs from a lilac bush behind our home.

It's so special to me to have a piece from my grandparents home. It will always remind me of the beautiful times we shared together. Although my grandparents are now living across the country, I find myself feeling close to them when I look at this piece. It's a piece that tells a story; one of sad endings but also new beginnings.