My father served as a Navy Seabee in Ireland during World War II. He did not speak much about his experiences in the war, but he was so proud of this sugar bowl and creamer he brought home with him for my mother. It is made of the very thinnest china, called belleek. It has been mine since I got married, and I treasure it dearly. I am only surprised, and grateful, that it has traveled across an ocean with my father, and across several states as my own family has moved over the years.