"Traditions of Love and Family”

        As one travels down the Rhine River in Germany, they will find themselves surrounded by the plentiful vineyards, along with historic castles that show their age. The beautiful scenery makes for fantastic photographs, and even better porcelain. When Walter Jackson found the handmade porcelain punchbowl in Bitburg, Germany, he knew he had found the perfect gift for his parents. What he didn’t know, however, was that he had found the perfect tradition for his family to continue for the following generations.                        

Jackson first gave the porcelain punchbowl, along with a matching set of six cups, as a gift to his parents on their 25th anniversary, sometime during the 1960’s, as a beautiful commemoration of their vows lasting to the 25 year mark. “He wanted something unique, and something that they definitely didn’t have, and something that they would look at and remember with love that he had given [to them]” his daughter, Sheryl, would go on to say about his thoughts on giving the punchbowl to his parents.

        The punchbowl itself is certainly unique, as it is a homemade bowl that boasts large pictures of the many castles that line the coasts of the Rhine River, bordered with vines and grapes messily painted to represent the vineyards that border the Rhine. On the top of the lid is a small but impressive sculpture of a mountain with a steam-engine train roaring its way through. Overall, its appearance is rather antique, as it is a pale yellow and the paint coating the vines and grapes is very rough. However, the look of the punchbowl and cups is charming, a perfect way to remember the times spent in Germany.

As the years passed on, the punchbowl remained a decoration held in the possession of the elder Jackson’s. Eventually, Walter Jackson had to regain the custody of the item, as his father had passed and his mother now resided in a nursing home. “That was in the late nineties,” Sheryl later recalled. “He’d had it since [the] late eighties, early nineties.” He continued to take great care of it, promising his eldest daughter Sheryl Ray that she would eventually own it. “...He kept telling me on my twentieth anniversary and my twenty-first anniversary...that that was gonna be my twenty-fifth [anniversary gift]. As a way of keeping grandma Jackson alive.”

The punchbowl held special meaning to Jackson, as love and family, and so when he had finally passed it on to his eldest daughter on her twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she understood what she was receiving was more than just decorative porcelain. “It meant a great deal to [Walter] that...he gave it to us,” Ray said on receiving the punchbowl. “When his mother passed away, he kept it packed up, and when we hit twenty-five years, it meant a lot [to him] to give this to us on our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.” She then went on to say what the punchbowl meant to her, as “family”. “It’s love, it’s appreciation. It’s that my father...loved us enough and thought about us enough to want us to have my grandparents gift that he gave [to] them on their twenty-fifth anniversary when we hit our twenty-fifth anniversary, because we’re the only members of the family that have made it that long.”

Sadly, only two years after receiving the gift, Walter Jackson passed, giving the vine-entwined punchbowl even more meaning than before. As they had always had a close relationship, this gift served as both a symbol of family and a reminder of her loving father who meant the world to her.

As a representation of family, it makes most sense that the ancient dishware would be passed down the generation line, and Ray intends to continue the tradition of giving it away to the child who made it to twenty-five years in marriage. “I will continue [the tradition],” says Ray, who hopes that the next child she passes the dishware down to will also allow the punchbowl to go through the waves of generations in the family.

The history of the punchbowls is rich, even without looking past the family ties that hold it closely. Sentimental value within this set of decorative dishware is extremely high, something that one must not take for granted, and this family certainly hasn’t. When one from this family looks at this punchbowl and cup set, they will think of a family long gone, yet still there. Of a man who loved his parents enough to buy them a gift while an ocean away, and a man who continued the giving of the punchbowl from his parents to his children. After that, they will think of those that continued the tradition, possibly his daughter or her children.

As beautiful as the photographs are, they will never be as beautiful as the porcelain in the eyes of Sheryl Ray, who now holds it dear to her heart, and will continue to do so until it is finally passed on.