Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

The Shattered Crown

18th century wooded Crown

 

Slow motion reality: When you see something happening before your eyes that you wish wasn't happening, though there isn't anything you can do to stop it.

French Husband turned around,

his elbow caught the corner of the crown,

The crown's airborne flight appeared in slow motion going down towards the tile floor.

I cringed as I recalled, "Italy. 18th century wooden crown. Small, off the beaten path shop. I'll never found another or that shop again. Crash."

It shattered as if it were porcelain.

French Husband quickly turned around. His shocked expression said it all. His eyes met mine waiting to register my reaction.

I screwed my mouth to the side, opened my eyes wide, shrugged, though inside I was SCREAMING.

"Well," I offered, "Better that it was you breaking something that was mine, than me ruining something of yours."

"What?"

"Let it go, it is what it is. Not important. But I did, really did like it."

So if you come to my house and see a small pile of wood on the coffee table, do not ask if it is kindling. Because I might come unglued.

 

 

Comments

28 responses to “The Shattered Crown”

  1. Lesley Austin

    Oh dear…sending sympathy…to you both. I used to take the breaking of things by my menfolk pretty badly. It was the sentiment attached to the cup or glass, not its material value, of course.
    But as with so many things, time has made me more accepting of those little losses. Or I’ve just been worn down. : )
    Well done, Corey, for the shrug. Is there anything to be done with the shards? xo

    Reply
  2. Claudia

    Sorry. Could it be glued back together or is it just too many pieces?

    Reply
  3. WR

    I know what this feels like, when Vlad broke my special cup only weeks after I purchased it at the brocante…Can’t just buy another one…

    Reply
  4. Rhonda

    Oh Corey, I know how you feel. I once had a gorgeous antique cup simply fly out of my hands. I had witnesses who saw it happen. As if someone knocked it out of hand but no one did. I say no more.
    My mind simply told me, wasn’t meant to be. So many treasures are meant to be and that is fine with me.

    Reply
  5. Lois

    Oh bloody awful for you and him as well! I know how it is when precious finds are broken, and you have to swallow all that angst because… Accidents happen. 🙁

    Reply
  6. Kiki

    woaw……. I sighed in horror…… your ‘non’ reaction was absolutely incredibly ‘kind’!!!!
    I am married to THE most accident prone Hero Hubby; there is not a day something is not being sacrificed on the altar of destruction, or being ruined by food stains or bones/nerves/and more getting knocked (over)… I don’t always react so kindly! Got stuff to learn (still!)
    I wonder, do you know about a ‘china repair method’ you could possibly apply on wood too? It’s called Kintsugi and you put gold powder over a crudely ‘fixed’ rim with glue. Watch this film for details or look up kintsugi.
    http://dorftv.at/videos/open-space/424

    Reply
  7. jody

    i understand the passion for these great items we have. and i applaud you for your silence. True, the shop and crown will never be found again, but the greater truth is.. neither would a loving husband like Yann or the opportunity to retract an unkind word. Well done Corey, you have chosen the best. Thank you for your sweet example. xxoo jody/fl

    Reply
  8. Kim

    Yes — one must wax philosophical at these times. Things come. Things go.
    Once I took care of a parrot who chewed my husband’s favourite antique piece of furniture. He was really nice about it…my husband, not the bird.
    Good for you for letting go and accepting the whole experience.

    Reply
  9. Judy

    I have a few glued-together objects that look like they were constructed by
    wild bears because I simply could NOT give them up to destruction.
    …sigh…
    you are a lovely wife, Corey

    Reply
  10. Toni

    What a gracious response to a heartbreaking situation!

    Reply
  11. Tara Bradford

    I know an excellent sympathetic restorer in Paris and I bet he could put it back together so that you’d barely notice anything was wrong. Let me know if you need his details.

    Reply
  12. Nancy W

    Hate when that happens ! i would much rather I am the one to break something of mine as then I can be “mad” at myself instead of my husband. You are wise to let it go though. Holding anger over material things no matter how precious, can only bring more distress…to everyone. Onward.

    Reply
  13. Kathy

    C’est dommage!
    Might be best to put the pieces to rest after a respectable mourning period. Out of sight, out of mind. My hubby is always (it seems) breaking my irreplaceable treasures. He has tried to glue some back together, but there they sit mangled and a constant reminder of the ‘accident’. That’s why I think it best to get rid of the pieces and forget. The only truly irreplaceable treasure is a good husband, non?

    Reply
  14. liz

    Could not have said that better,So beautifully put Jody. Things are just material things, but your mans heart you should never break!

    Reply
  15. Debra

    Oh, so sorry. But, as you know, it’s just not worth hurting your incredible husband’s feelings over. Still, hate it when this stuff happens.

    Reply
  16. Marilyn

    Deep breath!
    I just tell myself when something is broken, “well it is just a thing”. No one was hurt. But then breath deeply once more.

    Reply
  17. RebeccaNYC

    So, of course now I am wondering how Yann would have reacted if you had broken something precious of HIS. I know how my husband would react, and I have always wondered if he and Yann were seperated at birth….

    Reply
  18. Ann

    Trying to think of comforting words…all I can come up with is…it’s lent…offer it up…forgive…move on…teaches us not to get attached to material things. You enjoyed it for several years and have a nice photo. Now you have a reason to go back to Italy.

    Reply
  19. Kathie B

    One’s partner is far more precious than any object. (or at least Farmboy Husband seems to think so, every time he breaks something).

    Reply
  20. Shelley Noble

    Perfect! Yann wears the true crown, transformed. Now there is no other needed. xox

    Reply
  21. Gladys

    Check with museums–they have depts that handle such, and usually will share the name of their respected restorers, etc. But be prepared, the repair itself will probably be very expensive. Good luck!

    Reply
  22. mo

    Bravo Corey !!!
    je te félicite
    bizous

    Reply
  23. jend’isère

    Since your life is like a fairy tale, you just had a nursery rhyme moment. Jack & Jill fell down and broke his crown….

    Reply
  24. La Contessa

    I understand completely!Made it through all those CENTURY’s and now to have this happen!What was FRENCH HUSBAND doing………hanging another relic I hope!I too would keep the pile………perhaps under a GLASS DOME!
    XOXOXO

    Reply
  25. Jill Flory

    Oh gah! I love my crowns – I about come unglued if one gets broke. Put those wood pieces under a cloche for a reminder!

    Reply
  26. Chris Wittmann

    I can SO relate to how you felt Corey….several years ago a clumsy furnace repair guy inadvertently kicked an antique English hand blown glass garden cloche that I had carefully stored underneath a table in my furnace room, far from the reach of boots and shoes, or so I thought…I recall gulping and simply saying, “oh, don’t worry about it” but inside I was steaming! The fact the guy had come out on a bitterly cold Sunday for an emergency call kept me from displaying my true feelings. That antique cloche cost me alot of money, and I’ve never gotten over it!

    Reply
  27. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    I had to respond like that — “it’s okay, I’m disappointed, I really liked it, but these things happen” — when some friends were generously helping me to clean allergy-laden dust off boxes and boxes of items that they’d generously packed up a few weeks before. Martha lifted a glued-together favorite glass bowl up by the glued bit, and it let go and shattered all over the garage floor. I was so disappointed. I was nice, but I did make her sweep up the shards of glass.

    Reply
  28. mariljohnson@yahoo.com

    oh nooooo, i think i know that crown! i know that it is very special and had a near miss a few years ago 🙁 I am so sorry
    !

    Reply

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