Nana’s house is very special. She has collections of things in every room. Being a boy, I never really looked at stuff like that or cared that much for it. As I got older, I had questions about some of Nana's collections in some of her rooms. Her kitchen is mostly decorated with horse things. She has horse teapots, lunch boxes, dolls, even a wall clock and thermometer. I asked her last week why did she collect so many horse things? She told me that when my dad was little, he got her the first horse cookie jar for Christmas one year. My dad is her son. Wow, and now my dad is 36.

So I wandered into the dining room. Thinking about all her collections, I pointed to this one. The one in the picture above. “Ok, Nana, what is the story behind this one?” I asked. She laughed and said, “You silly boy, you think your old Nana has a story about everything in her house?” To which I replied, “Yup!”

She laughed again and said, “You are so right!” Then she rubbed my head. (She likes to do that!)

The story goes like this.

When Papa and Nana first started dating many years ago, he used to take her to a restaurant that had a country store in the front part of it. They would eat their meal and then look around the store at things. Back then Nana’s collected teapots. Nana had spotted this teapot and thought it was so cute. The price on it was out of range for Nana or Papa to buy.

Nana’s birthday was coming up in a couple of months. She thought maybe it would go on sale before then. She kept looking at it every time they went in. One night when Nana and Papa had finished eating, she went to look again. The teapot was gone. She was sad, but tried not to show it.

On her birthday, Papa took her back to the restaurant. After they finished their meal, he asked her if she wanted to look around. She said she didn’t. She knew the teapot had been gone. They got back into Papa’s truck and he handed her a present all wrapped up. It was the teapot and a plate that matched. What a wonderful surprise for Nana!

That, she said, happened 2 years before my dad was born and one year before she married Papa!

Yup, told you! Everything in Nana’s house has a story!

Reread the story, take notes of the details, facts, and story sequence. Remember what happened first, next, and last.