The Silver

This morning I polished the silver. Polishing silver gives one time to think and remember the past - both recent and far past.

The silver needed cleaning and polishing because we used it last weekend for our granddaughter's wedding reception. It was a grand reception, held in the boardroom of a downtown office building. There were flowers, food, punch, and champagne plus some beer for the younger crowd.

I inherited most of the ornate platters and serving pieces from my mother. She collected the silver during a lifetime of being an Army wife, following my father to far away places and making a home for us kids in whatever town or country we found ourselves.

During the last half of her life, my mother lived with Dad near a small town in south Alabama. My mother enjoyed being something of a big fish in a small pond. She was active in several women's groups in the town, supporting the arts and playing a role in civic affairs. She entertained in that "English tea" sort of way for which southern ladies have been celebrated. She frequently hosted meetings and dinners for various groups, all of which meant using the fine china, the crystal goblets, and, of course, the silver.

She would have appreciated our granddaughter's wedding reception. Her gleaming silver held the food and the silver punch bowl contained punch made from her recipe. Her embroidered tablecloths from Germany and China covered the table for the groom's cake and the presents. I am not sure what she would have thought about us buying the food ready prepared from Sam's Club. She always prepared food for her parties "from scratch".

I do not know when the silver will be used again. Maybe it will be when we have an open house after we move into an apartment this summer. Or it might have to wait for our second granddaughter or one of my nieces to get married. The silver certainly will not see as much use in my lifetime as it did during my mother's. Entertainment in the 21^st century seems much more casual than that practiced by my mother's generation. We tend to use paper plates and plastic utensils rather than the fine china and sterling silver favored by those who grew up during the Depression.

It saddens me a bit to see that era of elegance and silver replaced by casualness and plastic. But, I must confess, it is a lot easier to toss the plastic in the garbage than to clean and polish all the china, crystal, and silver. My mother might not appreciate our more casual entertainment style, but my dad sure would have. After all, he was the one who wound up washing the dishes!