Papa's mug

Papa has this porcelain mug given to him by an American soldier during the war. It has to be the king of all the mugs and cups in his house. It held Papa's morning coffee everyday for more than fifty years.

One day, I was washing the Mug and noticed that the stain at the bottom wouldn't go away. I washed the Mug again. And again. And again. I was worried that Papa would think I was a failure at washing dishes.

My Grandmother noticed that I was taking a long time washing the Mug. I told her about the nasty stain at the bottom. Mama taught me the secret to cleaning Papa's most special porcelain mug: ash.

Yup, good old wood ash. From the ash pile made from burning firewood. Just a few inches of wood ash, a little bit of water, a little bit of rubbing and the Mug was as clean as can be!

I was so fascinated with the whole ash-treatment, I used it to make my front teeth white and clean. It worked really well. The downside was that it tasted really funny. Then I panicked. I thought that I might have poisoned myself.

I thought it was probably the most ungraceful way to die: because of vanity. Haha! Good thing it didn't kill me. But it did scare me enough to never try it again.