MY DISH TOWELS ARE ALL WEARING OUT

I feel an attachment to all the gifts I’ve ever received. I kept every dish towel I was gifted, and there are many. The collection started at my bridal shower before my wedding.

That was in 1975, and I can probably name the person who gifted me with each towel. My girlfriend Barbara claims that’s because of the way we were raised and not having much. We appreciated the gifts, remembered who gave them to us, and sent thank you notes for all of them.

I never really made use of the dish towels; I had an automatic dishwasher. Shortly before the COVID pandemic, our dishwasher “went on the fritz.” Now, there’s an old term I don’t think of any more, or hear around. Rather than having a repairperson come to the house now, I told my husband it’s just the two of us, so we’ll hand wash the dishes.

As everyone knows, one of the first things to show a shortage during the pandemic was paper goods. Instead of using paper towels as frivolously as I once did, I forced myself to use dish towels, which I could put in the washing machine with a minimum amount of liquid laundry detergent. We were trying to limit the use of our cleaning supplies as the hoarders were out in droves, mercilessly stocking up on household items.

After all these years, beginning to use the stack of dish towels taught me so much. It got me to thinking about many things while at the kitchen sink doing dishes three times a day. One thought that kept floating through my mind was my Aunt Cerna's selection, which was out on display. Hung on adjoining hooks near the basement door in her kitchen was a blue striped dish towel used for dairy dishes and another with a red stripe for meat dishes, making it easy to fulfill kosher dietary laws.

As the hoarding slowed down, I began to purchase paper plates. That allows us fewer dishes to toil over. I am finding a use for that nearly new stack of dish towels, which I collected over 45 years of marriage. The old pile is just now starting to wear down from daily laundering.

Feel free to send comments about items you found in your home, which you have finally begun to use or that you may have used up or worn out during the pandemic. Maybe there is even a memory you wish to share about dish towels. Let's keep the conversation going. There aren't a whole lot of other options while we're keeping our distance.

Shout out to my cousins, Aunt Cerna’s children - Martin, Norman, and Shari…remember?