Grandma Got Me My Personalized Mug

As a young girl I had a phase. Really the phase hasn't exactly ended; it's transitioned. As a grade school student it was important to me that no one but me drink from the same glass, or mug, as me. Maybe it does sound [read] ridiculous, yet it meant everything to me back then. And it, sort of, still does.

When Grandma visited I happened to tell her how I felt about this & how I'd dreamed up a mug with my name on it, that only I'd use. Grandma didn't have much money, & these were the days before personalized name items (key rings, candles, pens, & pencils, etc.) were specifically sold in stores. Grandma took it upon herself to contact a retailer which sells personalized gifts, including mugs. She ordered me a mug, which says, "My Mug" on one side & my first name on the other side. She watched me beam when I opened the gift. It truly was a surprise. I wasn't "present dropping" ideas when I chatted with her; I was too young to think of that.

I began using it instantly, & once, when Mom got sick at the kitchen sink, my personalized mug, the one with my name on it, happened to be the one hanging to drain right next to her - so she grabbed it & gulped down a few ounces of water from my mug. I couldn't bring myself to drink from it. Mom had drunk from it. Ugh. It was awful.

Then it sat there. It could go into the cabinet, yet since I used it so frequently (each time I hydrated myself), it never really actually got further than the dish drainer & then back onto the table at mealtime. So it continued to sit. Maybe it wasn't for all that long. Maybe just a day or so. It sat for long enough that I realized I'd have to clean it enough for my personal satisfaction & move on. After all, it being my mug no one else in the house would use it, so it had no other way of ending up back in the dishpan other than my using it, or simply cleaning it more.

Yes, dishpans & dish drainers. Definitely during those years our house was a dishwasher-less house. And I resumed drinking from my mug once I washed it a bit more. I've never been a germ-a-phobe, yet I've always considered my drinking containers as well as my silverware & plasticware. Nowadays, as it's been for about ten years, I've been drinking from these. Not quite as personalized, yet before my personalized mug reached overuse (well, its personalization had already peeled off quite a bit), as it & its beautiful drinking memories are irreplaceable, as a keepsake I retired it to keep space with other mementos from long ago.