My grandmother left me the broken cup everyone else wanted to throw away

Dear Delyara, My grandmother owned beautiful porcelain. When she died, relatives discussed which bowls and tea sets had value. In her will, she left me one cracked blue cup. Everybody laughed because they knew the story. I broke it when I was six. Grandma repaired it badly with glue and used it for thirty years afterward. She would always point to the crack and say, “Your masterpiece.” I was embarrassed by that story as a teenager. Today, the lawyer handed me the cup wrapped in newspaper. One cousin received an antique vase worth thousands. I received a cup that cannot safely hold hot tea. I would not trade. On the bottom, Grandma had written my childhood nickname in permanent marker. I had never noticed. She knew exactly who the broken cup belonged to long before anyone discussed inheritance. Tonight, it is on my desk holding pencils. The crack is still ugly. The glue has yellowed. I understand now why she never threw it away. Some objects become valuable because they survive being damaged by someone you love and are kept anyway.