Many years ago, my mother bought a set of Limoges dishes at an auction and brought them home in a cardboard box. We never used these dishes, they were displayed high on a shelf behind glass cabinet doors. In 2021, we moved my mom from our family home to an apartment. We divided up all that had accumulated there over 54 years. Not having the space to properly display the dishes, my mom chose not to take them with her. Across the country, I chose a sample of these dishes that my brother kept for me in a cardboard box in his garage.
 
In September I flew to DC to gather some of my things that had accumulated over 54 years in the family house. I packed 6 boxes of old papers, souvenirs, artworks, letters and objects, including 4 plates, 4 bowls and 4 small dishes from my mother’s collection. I sent the 6 boxes home via UPS with extra fragile stickers on the box containing the fragile, porcelain plates.
 
The boxes arrived a week later. Unpacking them I found that half of the dishes had shattered. I was devasted and felt beyond foolish. How could I have sent these delicate dishes UPS? I had destroyed these objects that my mother and those before her had cared for and preserved. It was ridiculously careless of me. I had taken these precious objects and turned them into garbage. I felt so guilty.
 
All I have done is glue them back together. Reassembled they are delicate and lovely, and even more precious to me.