It becomes official

The first box came today. I think it may have come a few days ago but with the office closed for the holiday and my lack of reading skills prior I missed my opportunity and had to wait. But there it was, a surprise. Stacked on top of the box I was expecting - old christmas presents that never managed to fit in the suitcases: four glasses from mexico, a japanese teapot, a flour sifter, a cloth cooler, two blocks of blue ice. Crate and Barrel. We knew what was inside - only one person had bought anything - but we hadn't seen it yet, didn't know who it was from. I am still not sure about the teacups. The outside color is perfect, matches the plates from my grandmother, but the inside is a lovely winter white that, of course, looks fairly awful with the white plates and bright white bowls. I wasn't sure but I put them on the list - let Ethan decide, we can always exchange them for plain white. But tonight he wanted to wash them, put them away in the cabinet he had just cleaned out for the purpose. If we take the labels off we have to keep them. I know he says think of them as the first dishes we start our new life with. They're not perfect, just like us. Cliched, or he wouldn't have said it, but decided and true. We have shared so much together for the past five years that it seems silly to get a little choked up about two cups and saucers but suddenly getting married seems real again, seems different. I am still not sure what that difference is but it is there and, as it seems, growing.