Ever notice how mugs make great pencil and pen holders? Not only do they hold writing instruments, but they also hold memories.
Thirty years ago, when I left La Leche League International’s employ I took with me a mug with the LLL logo of a breastfeeding women on it. And it held my pens and pencils for a long time with the remembrance of my 14 months at that job. They were among the most significant in my work life, even though they were among the most brief. I learned so much from a female-run organization on how the work environment could be.
But that’s another blog; this one is about mugs.
My next mug holder was a treasure my Aunt Alice sent me from the Ship Tavern in the Brown Palace in Denver, Colorado.. Her husband, mine, she, and I always went there when we came to visit. It was known for its prime rib sandwiches, and the reputation was well deserved. The bar also offered Guinness on tap for the men in the group.
Just thinking about the Ship Tavern, which I hadn’t in a long time, makes me realize I’ll never have prime rib there again. Or the wonderful conversations that it inspired. Both my aunt and uncle died earlier this year. I miss them, particularly my aunt.
So now I have a “banned” book mug. It doesn’t have the same sentimentality as the two former ones, but it does have controversy on its side. This mug arrived in my home maybe ten years ago, because I ordered it to support some PBS catalog. Due to its age, it predates the current effort to ban books because of their LGBTQ bent or their description of racial, immigrant, or other phobic concerns.
However, the mug is not without controversy. It’s covered with the names of books that have been banned in the past. Let me share: The Catcher in the Rye, Lolita, Les Miserables, Animal Farm, Madame Bovary, The Satanic Verses, Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Origin of Species, Huckleberry Finn, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
You can see none of these works is particularly contemporary, which suggests the effort to ban books is ongoing.
Work, family, and philosophy are all represented in the mugs that have held my writing tools. Since I’m a writer, that seems appropriate. But after posting this blog and realizing how much memory is part of it, I don’t think I’ll ever find another mug that holds as much of my life as the three I’ve described here.
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