Funny how things can make one remember.

It really is funny how a "thing" can spark memories. It happens to me alot in the business that I am in. I hear my customers talk about it as well. I remember that grandma had one just like this and she used it every day.

Yesterday, I got something that brought back a flood of wonderful memories.

You see, we have a big family, with lots of cousins. The close cousins, the ones that we saw all of the time because they lived in town. We saw them almost every weekend when our parents would play "Ping", a card game into the wee hours of the night.

I love my close cousins. But, they are all boys. My boy cousins, equipped with all of the boy toys that you can imagine. It was fun to visit but let's face it....four boy cousins plus my brother and all of the obligitory toys was not as exciting as you might imagine.

Then there was my far away cousins, my GIRL cousins. My girl cousins lived in St. John. Really not a long trip but at the age of 8 or so, it was an adventure. I loved going to my girl cousins house.

There was the long car ride which included sweet treats provided by my mom. We would play I spy or car plate bingo or color. Sometimes we would sing to pass the time. It was great to spend time with my family. We were all excited to get to the girl cousins house.

My girl cousins lived in a big farm house, while our house was smaller. They had horses, a piano, a big basement made into a play room and every single, solitary girl toy that you could imagine. My girl cousins were the type that had both of Barbies shoes in the Barbie wardrobe. They had every single game piece to Monopoly, all of their toys still looked new....they were THOSE kind of girls. We were not THOSE kind of girls.

In our defense, they had the entire basement ...with an ENTIRE PLAY KITCHEN....we had a bedroom that we all shared...my two sisters, myself and my grandma. We just didn't have the room.

Playing in their playroom was heaven. In their kitchen they had play groceries in the cupboards and entire sets of dishes that you could wash because their play sink had real running water. Who has that?

We would bake with their tiny pans and sweep with their tiny brooms. Then we would serve everything up on the tiny table and chairs. It was nirvana.

Today, I got the sweetest piece that brought all of those memories flooding back. It is amazing.

It was obviously handmade. It is painted the sweetest red and yellow. All of the drawers open and close perfectly, ready to store those tiny cookie cutters and rolling pins. The cupboard doors are worn from years of love and play.

It even has tiny hooks for tiny cups. You should have seen me running around the store trying to find tiny utensils to play with....um to stage this piece with. I was only able to find some tiny cups and a tiny colander that is actually a votive holder. I love this piece. It sparked wonderful memories for me. It also made me dream about the tea parties that it has seen.

I wish I had a little lady in my life that I could give this too. I just don't think that my 11 year granddaughter or my 6 greandsons would be that interested.

This is certainly a piece that would make some wonderful memories. Maybe not about girl cousins but certainly about fun.

This piece is available at the moment in store but I don't think it will last long....certainly not as long as the wonderful memories it can help to create.