Some folks include skydiving, backpacking across Europe and taking exotic cruises on their bucket lists. Others want to ride in a hot air balloon, see the Northern Lights or experience New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York City.
You may not think it’s exciting, but I wanted a teapot just like Ms. Fannie Lou’s in Vernon, Florida. Ms. Fannie Lou is the woman who invited me into her house in Vernon when I originally went back to see if Vernon still held the magic it did when my Papa and I used to visit when I was a little boy.
Papa would say, “Let’s go to Vernon,” and we would go. We would get there to the sleepy little town on the Florida Panhandle and get out of the car with my Papa’s little dog. He would say, “We’re in Vernon now.”
Then we would have some cheese and crackers and a Nehi soda water and either head back to his house in rural Alabama or on down to the beach in Panama City.
As many folks who follow my writing know, Ms. Fannie Lou has now moved into a retirement home down in Florida, but she invited me in her house before she moved and showed me “The Pink Room.”
In the Pink Room, there were shelves with teapots and doodads and all kinds of beautiful things. On one of the shelves was a “magic teapot” that played a beautiful tune – a tune that just made my heart race… Ms. Fannie Lou and I couldn’t quite “Name that tune,” the teapot was playing.
She promised me she would figure it out and let me know.
She did… When I went back to visit Ms. Fannie Lou in the retirement home, she pulled a little piece of paper out of her purse with the name of the song on it. “A Time for Us…” Goodness, it was just the perfect song title for a magic teapot to play.
And the teapot? Ms. Fannie Lou still had it there in the retirement home. Of all the teapots and doodads, IT was the one she decided to keep. I was so happy to see the teapot, hear it play again and find out the name of the tune it was playing.
I sat and cried as we listened to the teapot play. Ms. Fannie Lou just kept giving me tissues. My memories of Vernon, Florida as a child, Ms. Fannie Lou’s continued kindness and the little teapot just got to me.
Ms. Fannie Lou understood.
I got home to Virginia, after seeing Ms. Fannie Lou once again, being named an “Honorary Citizen” of Vernon and getting to be the Grand Marshal of Vernon Christmas Parade. I decided that I had to have a teapot just like Ms. Fannie Lou’s.
It couldn’t just play the right song, it had to be “identical.” I knew I couldn’t have Ms. Fannie Lou’s teapot; that just wouldn’t be right…. It was famous and it was hers. But I could look for one just like it…
So I started looking in 2012. Over the last couple of years, I have searched all sorts of antique and teapot collectors’ sites and places on the internet, just hoping to find the white teapot with roses, daisies, forget-me-not’s and lace around the bottom of the teapot and the rim of the lid.
At least I thought the little blue flowers were “forget-me-nots;” if they weren’t, they sure looked like them. One of the flowers on Ms. Fannie Lou’s “magic teapot” needed to be a forget-me-not.
Recently, I found one – an exact replica of Ms. Fannie Lou’s. A lady who runs a second-hand/consignment store in Manistique, Michigan had it listed for sale. I did not wait. I bought the teapot.
In the process of buying the teapot, the consignment store lady in Manistique wanted me to buy the cup and saucer that went with it. Ms. Fannie Lou didn’t seem to have the cup and saucer that went with hers, but this nice lady in Manistique thought that I needed it. I understood. She was just being nice and trying to make another sale.
Sure, send me the matching cup and saucer - anything to get “the teapot” to me sooner.
In the meantime, I sat and waited, humming the tune that the teapot plays and reading wonderful things about Manistique, Michigan. Hoping each day that the mail man or the delivery truck would bring the teapot and allow me to check it off my bucket list.
It came on Sunday, December 14th. I didn’t think the Postal Service delivered on Sunday, but I guess they realized it was a “magic teapot.”
My sincere hope is that I can take it to Florida and have my picture made with a beautiful woman in her nineties who made me want that teapot so badly. What a picture! Ms. Fannie Lou and her teapot and I with mine….
Goodness, I guess I have new things on my bucket list… Another teapot picture with Ms. Fannie Lou and maybe an honorary citizenship of Manistique, Michigan.
Links to More Stories about Ms. Fannie Lou and Vernon, Florida
Ms. Fannie Lou - The First Lady of Vernon (April 2011)
Sitting with Ms. Fannie Lou (April 2011)
Ms. Fannie Lou's Pink Room (April 2011)
Ms. Fannie Lou's Pound Cake & Miracle Eggs
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Cranks My Tractor
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I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and Manistique, Michigan.
Copyright, BN Heard
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What a great story!! Jodi, the "lady" who sold you the teapot and myself (Kelley), own that little eBay consignment store (All the Bells & Whistles). We are so touched to have helped you. If/When you get that picture with Ms. Fannie Lou, please post it. Would love to see it. I was wondering if we could tell this story in our little town newspaper, the "Pioneer Tribune". Winters are long and cold, this story sends such a warm message, people here would love it! I won't go further without your permission. Thank you for making my year!
Posted by: Kelley Spettel | 12/17/2014 at 03:17 PM
This is so cool! Manistique is my hometown, to which I returned, just last year, as a new bride of my high school sweetheart, 30 plus years after we graduated from high school and went our separate ways. The magic of Manistique, and the miracle of technology is something we share in both our stories! It just so happens I am Lin the market for a teapot, didn't know about the eBay consignment ladies, living in my "own back yard". Thank you for sharing this lovely gem of a story!
Posted by: Julie Barr | 12/17/2014 at 04:43 PM
Kelley, you are correct! I was so excited to get the teapot. I tracked it through the USPS tracking system and updated friends as it found its way to Virginia. I will for sure post a picture. Hopefully I will get down in the spring or summer. I would love for the paper to run the story, as a matter of fact I have already offered it to them (for a fee of 3 copies - I work cheap), but they didn't respond to me. I would love for it to be in your paper... My main goals are - to make people smile and realize there is a lot of good things in this world. Now, here is my request... I want to be an honorary citizen and I'm serious. I have seen the beautiful sites and places in town and I want to come! Best, BN
Posted by: BN Heard | 12/17/2014 at 09:28 PM