Tea Cup and Saucer Rescue.

By Gillian McAuliffe

A feeling of despair swept over us while searching for a teacup and saucer among the chaos of an opportunity shop for unwanted household goods. Someone, in their efforts to conserve space, had separated dozens of cups and saucers piling the saucers neatly in tall uneven towers on one shelf. The cups were stored awkwardly inside each other on the shelf above. The chance of finding two related pieces of crockery seemed unlikely, especially as many of the items had some element of design in common but were not quite a prefect match. Nethertheless we were determined to find a matching pair. Jennifer and I set about searching for a saucer for a cup, or a cup for a saucer whichever came first.

Then I saw, nestled at the back of the shelf, a complete set. A delicate white cup with a faded gold circle around the rim and base and two rose flower illustrations on the sides. The illustrations were identical in their pink, grey and green detail but one was slightly smaller than the other and placed on the opposite side of the cup so that when picking the cup up by its’ questionmark-shaped handle the large illustration faced you. That is, assuming you were right handed. A left-handed person would have faced the small illustration. The saucer was decorated with a similar floral arrangement, in two sizes, on opposite sides of the perfect round cradle for the cup. Somehow this pair had escaped the cruel separation endured by the rest of the cups and saucers. They sat, appealing to me to rescue them from the inevitable fate of losing each other and spending the rest of their lives on different shelves, or worse, being sold as separate items never to meet again.

The cup had a small chip the base but as this was not likely to interfere with her function, and as the saucer did not seem to mind, we resolved to rescue the Teacup and Saucer. On closer examination, of the dark corner of the shelf where they stood, we discovered a small shallow bowl that clearly belonged to the floral pair. Naturally I could not leave this member of the family alone.

We paid our one dollar fifty to release our new friends and they now sit proudly waiting to adorn the FRAW classroom when we return to school in February.

Pencil and watercolour drawing of my Teacup and Saucer. Not perfect but I had a go!

Epilogue

It occurred to me while driving back to Dunsborough from Busselton, where we found the Cup and Saucer, that a Cup and Saucer is a metaphor for relationships. A cup and a saucer each have different functions, different roles in life. They can function separately, and often do, but they are never more complete than when they work together.

In my role as a teacher I need to at times be the saucer in a relationship with my students supporting their learning and providing a vessel to catch any drips. The students cannot help but leave an impression on me in my supporting role in much the same way a cup leaves an impression on a saucer. Sometimes I need to be a cup offering opportunities to the saucer to experience new and wonderful flavours in life.

But the cup and saucer analogy, or metaphor, is strongest when it highlights how we need to work together in order to be complete. This is true not only of our relationships with the children in FRAWS but also with their parents and the rest of the school community.