The Great Plate

It was December Twenty fourth, almost my favorite time of year. I was sitting in my bedroom when my mother shouts from downstairs “Jessie, meet me downstairs in five minutes. I have something to show you”.   I pondered for those five minutes, what is mother going to show me? I thought and thought about it, hoping she was going to give me an early Christmas present or something along those lines. Five minutes later, I rushed down the stairs, and when I turned the corner, I saw mother sitting in the living room with a glass plate in her hands. I was very confused, but on the inside I was upset I wasn’t going to be receiving an early Christmas present. I looked at my mom and asked “why are you holding that plate?” I thought I had seen the plate before, but I wasn’t quite sure where. She replied “This may just look like an ordinary plate, but I can assure you, it is anything but ordinary. This plate has been in our family for generations. It began with Bachi, your great grandmother. This plate belonged to her during the great depression. During the great depression,   your great grandmother had lost everything. She lost her job, her house, and was even separated from her family for a bit. But, this was the only thing she had held on to throughout the entire tragedy. This plate meant a lot to her. Bachi kept this in a safe place, and was planning on passing it down to your grandmother. A few years after, Bachi had suddenly died of a heart attack. Nobody saw this coming, and it sure was a tragic death. Two months after her death, your grandmother and I helped clean up Bachi’s house, since she had lived alone. As your grandmother and I were digging through all of Bachi’s belongings, we came across this plate. Although your grandmother had never seen the plate, as soon as we opened the cupboard, your grandmother immediately realized this was the plate that Bachi had always talked about. Your grandmother did not want to take a lot of Bachi’s belongings, but she was sure this...