Inheriting valuable items is nice, but along with that comes a challenge: How do you get those items from one place to another, keeping them intact. My mother's china is set aside for me to bring home on a later trip. I trust myself with its safe passage more than I trust a shipping company. However, I did attempt to ship the crystal -- with pretty bad results. I was disappointed when two of the less-fancy glasses were chipped upon arrival; I was heartbroken when I unwrapped one of the hand-etched glasses and found the stem fully broken off. UPS will reimburse me for these items (and I did pay for a lot of insurance) but that won't compensate me for the loss of irreplaceable crystal. Three of the eight pieces I shipped sustained damage, even with the "pack and ship guarantee". I could pass the money I get from the shipping insurance down to my kids, but it isn't quite the same as passing down glassware that's been in the family for generations.
My china is packed in boxes with more packing material than china. When I put them in my car to drive them back to Florida, I'll probably pad the areas around them too. Because I'm a little clutzy, I have an image of getting them safely all the way to my driveway, then tripping over the doorstep and breaking dishes in my foyer. I have no idea when I'm going up there again. But I do know I'll never ship anything fragile again.
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