My latest Goodwill find: Christmas decor or story idea?

As I've written about many times, I prowl the thrift stores for vintage Christmas decor all year long. Teacups, Santa mugs, serving dishes … I love them all, and at thrift stores, the price is always right. But recently, I bought a Christmas plate for two reasons: it had a pretty aqua color, but more important, it has a story!

On the front, it says, "Thank you, Lord! Ann Rowley (or Rawley)." There is, of course, always plenty we can thank the Lord for, and I wondered what made Ann so boldly thank Him on this plate she painted. Just life in general? Maybe she was grateful that God saw her through a sad or trying time? Maybe she was (is?) just a thankful person and found (finds?) it natural to be thankful to the Lord?

Then on the back of the plate, I read, "To: My Classmates of '53. We did have fun!!!! didn't we? Love ya! Ann." Now how many of these Class of '53 classmates do you think Ann made plates for? I'm thinking somewhere between four and eight. I'm picturing them all together at a tearoom one Christmas, each one unwrapping her plate and oohing and aahing over it. And one of them passed away, and so the plate landed at Goodwill when an unsentimental daughter (or one who, like many of us, is simply out of storage room!) was going through her mom's things.

I even Googled a few obituaries for Ann Rowley/Rawley (I'm still not sure which it is), hoping to find one who was a china painter, but I decided it might be more fun not to know which Ann this is, and what her real story is. I love this plate, and the mystery it presents makes me love it even more. If I write a book one day based on an old handpainted Christmas plate, perhaps some of you will remember that you first saw the idea here!