Sterling Silver

DH has the most lovely, graceful grandmother. She is an elegant, charming woman who radiates the kind of class and gentility that makes me gasp with delight. This woman is truly beautiful, inside and out.

She asked DH several months ago if he'd like to have some of her family silver. She has been divesting herself of some of her most prized possessions as she downsizes from her home and into a (very lovely, posh) retirement community. Her apartment doesn't have the square footage for some of her larger items, so she's passing along some of her most meaningful things to her family.

When DH casually mentioned the silver offer, I just about plotzed. I come from a long line of women who believe in the power of sterling silver. My mother was very wise: she registered for her mother's pattern of silver. It is simple, hefty and glistening. She now owns her mother's set, and I believe she intends to split the set between me and Sis one day. It has a lovely patina that comes from two generations of use. All of my holiday memories involve that silver.

When DH and I registered for our wedding, we took a lesson from Sis and her husband. At my mother's urging, DS and her hubby registered for silver. The current cost of true sterling silver flatware is prohibitive to most gift givers' budgets. Sis and her hubby didn't get a single place setting. Sis was disgruntled that she didn't go the stainless route, and Mom was a bit verklempt over the fact that silver has become rather impractical both financially and practically. Times are different now, perhaps folks aren't buying new sets of silver the way they once did.

Back to the generous gift from DH's grandmother: the sterling is gorgeous upon lovely upon stunning. It's by Kirk Stieff, and the pattern is called Repousse. It's very ornate, very feminine, very Grace Kelly. It makes me think of DH's grandmother just to look at it. In my dreams, I have a vanity set in my bedroom with a brush, comb and mirror set lined in this repousse. And I'm purring something about not having time to do the ironing, what with all my country club activities and cocktail parties. Hee!

I hope to find a lovely flatware box in which to store these new-to-us family treasures. I'm touched to the core that our little family now has a set of silver of its own. I think an intimate dinner with DH on our wedding china is in order...and you can bet we'll be using every single piece of the new silver!