Eight Glasses for Our Family

Ahhhhhhhh! the memories these glasses bring to mind are happy ones! 

 
Six children sat around our large round claw-foot table when we ate in the dining room. The white tablecloth was always in place before we set the table. I say we because I recall other hands working alongside mine. I remember talking with brothers or sisters as we set the table. I remember being taught how to set a table. But sometimes I was the one explaining how it should be done, so I must have been the one teaching my younger brothers know how to set a table. I can go back to that time so clearly that I can almost feel the edge of the table, just above waist height, as I placed the silverware on the table. I know that an older sister was helping me. Then came time for our glasses of cold water. Each of the eight of us had a different colored metal drinking glass. Mine was the silver one. I thought it was the most special. I recall describing as the best one for the coldest water because of its icy color, although I’m not sure why it was important to make that declaration. Daddy’s glass was the tan one, and Mother’s was green. J-1 had the blue, J-2, the magenta, and J-3 the red. Next, my silver glass. J-5’s glass was a deeper red—more of a maroon.  The yellow was for J-6.