MARGUERITE'S TABLE........

She preferred to be called Marge.....
On Occasion I would hear the Big Boss call her
"Maggie"
she was Irish and growing up in Princeton...
that swanky college town.... she went on to be a
Governess to the wealthy of the town...
Taking care of their children like they were her own
and living in a small apartment on
Library Street....
isn't that a great street name...

She married the home town boy who went on to
do great things and he was the love of her life....
Married only 6 months...he died as he stepped onto
the beach at Normandy on D-Day....
she never talked much about him but you knew
her heart had been broken....
We have tried for years to locate his grave site to no
avail.....just to pay our respects....
to Francis....

She met the Big Boss as far as we know sometime
in the late 40's in Beautician School....
something we didn't know until the Big Boss
passed away....
Two opposite people in every way....

She was neither a cook or a Hostess....
But she liked the finer things in life....
She educated herself by reading....she was always
reading.....Usually with the Cat on her lap....
where the Big Boss was ruff and gruff....and
unsophisticated......she was like an American Version
of Hyacinth from Keeping Up Appearances..
Always in neatly pressed shirt waist dresses with
an ever present "hankie" tucked up under the
sleeve.....

The Dining Room in their little house in New Jersey
could not have been more then 10x10....
The china and silver were a service for 12....
And in all the years I never saw them used once....
They sat neatly inside a little hutch cabinet in the
corner....

I never thought she cared for me very much but I'm sure it
was the same sentiment as most mothers who have an only
child who is a son....
I never realized back then that she was losing
Another man in her life....
Another "love of her life"....
No one seemed good enough for "Her Johnny"
A name she called the Boss until she died...
I used to kid and say "You would think she gave
Birth to Tom Selleck"....

So a few years ago when the Big Boss passed away
and we cleaned out the house I packed up all the
lovely green and white china for 12....
the beautiful silver for 12....
And brought them home to my new house...

where they have sat in the box for well over a year.....

I loved her Royal Doulton figures....
They sit behind a glass case...

I especially care for the Cat Women.....

The china is so delicate with it's green pattern....
The little green glass salad bowls came home with me
too....

The glasses and the cabbage bowls were already
mine.....but everything seemed to go so well
together....
The Tea Cart in the background was Marge's..
It fits nicely in my over sized dining room....

I never had my own silver service so this was a treat
When I got a whole beautiful set.....With our Initial
on each piece!

The pitchers are mine....The little one
was sent to me by Sally of Salmugundi.....It matched
the big one....only hers is old and mine is new...
Don't you love when Blog friends send you
special treasures....

I found this in the silver box.....
the initials are...
"MPC"
Marguerite Phillips Clark.....

And here is a picture of Marguerite.....
probably during her working years in Princeton
Perhaps before she married Frances....
Maybe after....

She re-married in the late 1940's and they
were married for a little over 25 years before she passed
away......at an early age....
The Big Boss never re-married.... 

Here they are in their 25th Anniversary picture....
So private....that we never knew when they were married...
the anniversary came and went and this photo
was found when the house was being sold....

I hope I have made Marge proud by being the keeper of the
china and the silver and ofcourse the Boss....
It's been 45 years since I first met her....
I think she would enjoy seeing her lovely things
being used and enjoyed and to have them
at home in such a beautiful setting....

This post is for the "Boss".......

I am linking up with Cuisine Kathleen's 
Blog Crawl for St. Patrick's Day....
Lot's of beautiful tablescapes to view...