Tea for who?

This is my new teapot. I've had it for a few weeks and every time I look at it it brings a smile to my face.

There are three reasons for this.

Firstly, it's a nice teapot. A Denby. Just the right tubbiness, nicely weighted in my hand, holds 1 and a 1/4 pints - enough for 3 mugs, or two mugs and two top-ups.

Secondly, it was given to me by my dear friend Rebecca, with whom I spent and mis-spent a lot of my youth, and so every time I brew a pot of tea I also stir up some very fond memories.

Thirdly, it is a pre-loved teapot. Rebecca bought it second hand. Another hand, or hands, have held it, filled it, poured from it. And I wonder about them ... did they warm the pot? Were they Milk In First or Milk In Second? Did they take sugar? Did it provide comfort at funeral wakes, in periods of insomnia, after a near miss in the car? Was it a gift then as well? A wedding present or christmas surprise?

And what I love most of all, is that somewhere, out there, somebody remembers this teapot. It has stories, and I may never get to hear them, but it's still pretty cool that it's had a Life of it's own.

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