Package Down Memory Lane

Kathy sat in her old rocker watching her grandchildren play with building blocks. She loved it when they came to visit for the afternoon.

Soon her son came to pick up his kids. "Hey Mom, did you know you got a package out here?"

"A package? I didn't order anything…." By the time she got up, her son had made his way to her dining room and set the package on the table. She glanced at it. "Maybe it's another gift from a friend. I'll look at it later." Kathy shuffled to the table, where she and her son enjoyed a cup of coffee and a list before he took his kids home.

Sitting alone at the table now, Kathy slid the package in front of herself and looked at the address. It was from Jill Green - that was a blast from the past! Jill had been her best friend in high school.

Kathy slowly opened the box. Inside she found a letter and a smaller box. She opened the letter.

Dear Kathy,

It's been years, eh? I know we haven't spoken since sometime in College. But the other day I was at a thrift store and found this tea cap. Do you remember in high school when you were trying to find all the missing pieces for your grandmother's china set?

We would go visit thrift stores and take mini road trips. We found almost all of them - all but one cup. And would you believe that all these years later I still looked for it? I hope this finds you well and I hope it completes your set.

Lots of love,

Jill

Kathy set the letter down. "No way... After all these years, she found it." She opened the box and found the teacup, then looked to her china cabinet, where a spot sat empty.

Some time in college she had given up the search, thinking she'd never find it. Or maybe she’d given up because she'd lost touch with Jill and it wasn't as fun alone. She remembered the day she had gotten the china set…

Jill came over a few days after Kathy’s grandma's funeral. "Hey, how are you doing?"

Kathy gave her a soft smile. "I'm okay, I still feel sad…."

Jill sat next to Kathy. "I think that is expected.” Jill looked around. “Hey, that box is new…."

"Oh! Gramma left me her china set. It's not complete though," Kathy explained.

"Well, can I see it?" Jill brought the box over to Kathy.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I haven't looked at it." The girls slowly opened the box and unwrapped the four pieces of fine china. "Whoa, I haven't looked at this set closely before!" It was a lovely floral design. There was a teacup, saucer, sugar bowl, and cream dish.

Jill picked up the cup and found the name of the company that made the dishes, then picked up her phone and looked up the set online. "Hey, look at this!" Jill handed Kathy the phone.

"Wow, the set is really pretty. Oh, but they don't make it anymore." Kathy sighed.

"So?" Jill asked. "We can look around at yard sales and thrift stores."

"Really? You'd spend your summer doing that with me?" Kathy looked at her friend, amazed.

"Sure! Thrifting is fun, and so is yard-saling. So let's see how many we can find over the summer!"

Kathy smiled at the memory.

They had gone to every yard sale in their town that summer and had checked every store at least twice. They had found a few pieces in their town. She remembered when they had found the teapot.

It was close to Christmas time. The girls were seventeen, and they got permission from their parents to go on a short day trip to a small tours festival. It was only a forty-five-minute drive away.

The girls were excited to do something that felt so big without their parents. "Girl! I can't believe we are doing this!" Jill sat in the passenger seat, chattering in excitement.

"I know! It's so cool!" Kathy focused on the driving, smiling brightly.

They made it to the festival without a problem, and they even found parking! With warm drinks in hand, they walked down the main street, enjoying the music and the sound of bells. "Jill, look! Thrift store!" Kathy pointed and smiled brightly.

Jill laughed and pulled Kathy into the store. They looked through shelves of books, clothes, CDs and finally china. That's when she saw it. "Kathy, look!" Jill pulled Kathy towards a shelf.

"Oh my!" Kathy picked up the teapot. "It's in perfect condition too…."

Jill looked at the sticker. "And it's only five dollars; girl, you have to get it!"

Feeling happy about the find, they bought it and engaged for the rest of the festival. After a while, they headed home. On the drive, Kathy hit a patch of ice and they hit a ditch. Both girls were fine, their fathers were called, and everything was alright. Well, almost everything. The lid of the teapot was broken. But with a little super glue, you could hardly tell….

Kathy looked at her teapot with a smile. All these years and the lid had stayed together. She slowly stood, her body aching, and walked to her china cabinet. She opened the doors and looked at all the pieces - each one a special moment, before college took them to different coasts, before husbands, before children, before loss. A time when love was meant for nothing more than best friends.

Kathy took out each piece of china and set it on the table, and a faded photo fell from a teacup. She slowly picked it up. Two girls in grad dresses sat at a tea party; she remembered the joy and sorrow this day had held.

"Kathy, we found almost every piece." Jill smiled as they set up their tea party for the photo shoot. Hair and make-up were done; all they had left was the dresses.

"I know, just missing one single teacup." The girls laughed after four years of hunting, trying to find the cup. They got to be such regulars at the shops that the workers and owners knew their names and what they searched for. They all promised to set the teacup aside if it ever came in. But the girls went anyway. It had stopped being about the hunt years ago. It was just something to do with one's best friend.

Their mother's laughed. "We'll take it from here."

The girls took off to help each other get ready. Their moms could hear laughing, giggling, and fangirling as they put the finishing touches on the display.

Kathy and Jill stepped outside and twirled, and their moms clapped. "You girls did a great job with this display," one of their moms commented.

"Thank you! We wanted to use the tea set in our photos." The girls spent the afternoon posing and smiling, and they had the best time.

As they cleaned up, their moms handed them letters. "Your letters from that college you both wanted to go to came in. And we figured you would want to open them together."

Kathy and Jill took the letters and ripped into them.

"Oh my gosh!" Kathy squealed.

Meanwhile, Jill looked down, defeated.

"Oh no…." Kathy pulled her best friend into a hug. "We'll make it work."

And make it work, they did. Kathy prepared to go to her dream school on one coast, and Jill made plans to attend one of her second choices on the other. They knew this summer was the last time they'd spend this much time together for a while. They looked at all their favourite thrift stores and little shops. They never found the teacup, but they didn't mind. They found decor for dorm rooms and cute new clothes. They helped each other pack. They made memories and the summer came to a close.

Placing the photo back in the teacup, Kathy remembered the sadness of the day she had left without her best friend….

Kathy was soon the first of her friends to leave for college. So, her parents threw a little going away BBQ for her. Kathy went to bed feeling ready to leave in the morning.

Jill showed up at the end of her driveway at 5:30 in the morning.

“What are you doing here!" Kathy ran to her friend.

Jill laughed. "You think I'd settle for your big group goodbye last night? No way! I came to see you off with your parents." The girls shared more tears and held each other. After a moment they let go. Kathy got in the car with her mom, and Jill waved to them as they drove away.

Kathy felt a tear roll down her cheek as she looked at the photo.

When was the last time they had spoken or seen each other? Could she even remember? Slowly it came back to her. It had been Mother’s Day.

They went out for ice cream. Jill sat across from Kathy. It had been over a year since they had last sat down together. They visited and laughed about memories, about travels, about timelines with their current boyfriends; and they parted ways promising to visit each other soon. But they didn't. They were at each other's weddings but not in them. They had friends from college now; life just moved on.

But maybe things didn't have to stay that way….

Kathy looked at her now-completed tea set and then back at the letter. Looking at it more closely, she noted a phone number on the back. Smiling, she picked up her phone and called the past.

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