Item: 1 box of silver flatware

This was my grandmother's silverware, which I now have. I've taken it down from the top cupboard because I've started packing, and I've started with the things I'm least likely to need in the next few weeks.

It's too bad that this is not one of my necessary items, because I don't like having things deemed too precious to use. Nice things can best be appreciated in use, I think, not sitting behind glass to be admired from the other side. No one can enjoy this silver while it's sitting up in the cupboard. But polishing silver is, it must be admitted, a yucky job. And while bright, polished silver is beautiful on a table, unpolished silver looks like old stuff that nobody has been taking care of.

The pieces are stored in a nice felt-lined wooden box, though some of the fabric loops holding the knives are looking worn. Two different silver patterns are represented in the box: one with a small diagonal floral spray on the handle, and one with small embellishments surrounding an etched rectangle, a box that looks meant for an engraved initial. On the reverse sides, tiny print spells out "Tudor Plate" and "Oneida Community." Also included in the box is a small piece of white cloth and a collectible jelly spoon with a picture of "Convention Hall, Kansas City, MO" inside the bowl of the spoon.

While I know generally the time and place these belonged to in my family, I wish I knew the stories better. That's the thing about inanimate objects; they can't tell you much. I can't get from this box all of the associations it had to my grandmother. All it can do is connect me to them, however unknown.