1980s Tupperware and Anniversaries

 

I've been married so long that my Tupperware is considered "vintage." Every so often, someone will post a meme on Facebook, asking who still uses their yellow Tupperware colander. 

Since I try to be a savvy Facebook user and not get sucked into conversations with potential scammers, I just smile and nod to myself. I may even have a conversation with myself, "I just used that for dinner today." (Don't judge: Don't you have conversations with yourself? If not, don't answer that!)

Anyway, that yellow Tupperware colander has been in a kitchen drawer for our entire married life. And that number just went up. Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary. We got married at the Pratt United Methodist Church on March 28, 1981. There was a deluge as we were traveling to the church, but the sun came out as we left for our honeymoon. On March 28, 2009, we woke up to almost 2 feet of snow. I don't think either of us would have gotten to Pratt from our respective farm homes.

I've always said that rain was a good omen for a couple of farm kids. We could sure use some of that rain today. 

Wedding photos by Stan Reimer, Pratt, KS

Anyway, I don't remember specifically, but I'm guessing the colander was a gift at one of several bridal showers where I was guest of honor. 

At one of those bridal showers in 1981. Sue Thole made the aprons. We still have those, too.

The yellow colander joined the other popular Tupperware of the era - all in the shades of avocado green, golden harvest and orange. (Why couldn't blue have been the popular color in the '80s?)

Found at 80sThen80sNow on Twitter

I couldn't find the meme with the yellow colander, but here's one with a similar product. I still have my pitcher in the same harvest yellow as the colander, complete with set-in tea stains that are well beyond ever being bleached out. 

When I Googled vintage Tupperware, I realize I still have some of those items in my Tupperware cabinet. Another popular bridal gift at the time was brown Pyrex. I have multiple 9 X 13 baking pans in brown, along with a pie plate and a round casserole dish, though the casserole's glass lid broke several years ago.

With our anniversary approaching, I thought about that Tupperware colander in another way. Maybe it could be used as a metaphor for marriage. 

I use the colander to strain out extraneous liquid and keep the "good stuff." Marriage is kind of like that, too. Some of the "stuff" needs to get washed away - the misunderstandings, the disagreements, the hurt feelings ... you get the idea.

But, if we wash that extraneous stuff away, we're left with the "good stuff." As I emptied the dishwasher recently, I thought about how those leftovers from the 1980s bridal showers could be a metaphor for marriage itself. They may have a few stains. Some of the pottery may have a few chips and dings. The surfaces aren't pristine any longer.

But isn't that the way we are, too? There are cracks and dings and imperfections in our lives, and, yes, our bodies, too. But we are still of value. 

 
It's kind of like the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, when a stuffed animal becomes real by being loved. I just love the message:

 "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse to the Velveteen Rabbit. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

From Margery Williams' The Velveteen Rabbit

During several of our anniversaries, we worked baby calves. It was that time of year, so you do what needs to be done. On one anniversary, we had to round up an escaped bull. Randy asked, "Did you expect to be doing this on your anniversary all those years ago?" I just laughed and shook my head because all those years ago, I was more concerned whether the flower girl was going to stand in the right place during the ceremony and whether I'd get down the aisle without tripping in my unfamiliar high heels.

"Well," I told him back then, "I don't know that I would have imagined I'd be moving a bull on my anniversary. But I expected to still be married. I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

Being married isn't always easy. But through all the imperfections, we have definitely become more "real" and more loved ... just like that Velveteen rabbit. And I couldn't ask for more than that.

For an inside family joke, read this blog post from the early days of the blog, A Living Doll. It also talks about the Velveteen rabbit! 

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Randy!