Silver Memories

This last weekend my husband and I had a garage sale.  We still have items from both of our mothers' houses that were sent to us or ended up in our possession.  We are also looking forward to a big life change for ourselves in the next few years when we retire and possibly move to another state to be closer to our son and his family.

So in preparation for that eventual move I have been going through boxes and cabinets and setting aside items we don't use to sell.  In most cases it is an easy decision.  "Hmmm, French press coffee pot.  I have never used that and am too addicted to my Keurig.  Sell!"  I have found stacks of serving dishes, bowls, glassware and other things that have lurked in the back of my cabinets for years.  All were removed, cleaned and sold this last weekend.

In my search for items to sell I found a box of my mother's silver serving dishes.  They were tarnished and dirty so I decided to clean them up and include them in the garage sale.  As I was polishing the serving pieces I reminisced about the many times my mother used them.

She loved to have fancy dinners where she brought out all the good china, silverware and serving pieces and we would celebrate a holiday, an event or a special birthday.  Everyone had to dress up and dinner was served formally.  Of course she also had five daughters so she had a ready made labor force to clean all those pieces and polish the silver.  Standing there alone in my kitchen polishing the silver pieces for sale reminded me of all the times my sisters and I would have clean up/polishing duty after a family dinner.  Although in the grand tradition of all teenagers we complained about the work (just not loud enough for our mother to hear) thinking back it did not seem so overwhelming  or like such drudgery as it did as I was working alone last week.

I am selling the silver pieces because I just don't entertain that way at all.  For me a gathering is a buffet on the kitchen island with disposable plates and eating utensils.  I would much rather invest my time in spending it with friends and guests than dealing with fancy place settings and serving dishes.

It was wonderful to have the time to think about the past but it is also time for me to move on.  I know I am doing the right thing in re-homing these pieces with someone who will appreciate them.