Giving Family Heirloom Silver from Estate to Newlyweds

As you all know by now, my mother passed away last year. I have been working on her estate and history items for many years but this past year with diligence trying to get it all done and be able to move on with my own life.

When we were cleaning out her estate, after most of the family had claimed what they wanted, we found a few more things in the back of a closet. There were some antique toys and a silver chest with odd pieces of silver serving pieces in it. We thought it would be good to polish them up and give one to each grandchild who was getting married.

My sister brought all the stuff to our homes in a trailer and she had the silver at first and when I asked about it, gave me one to polish for a grand-son who got married just after my mothers death. It was around the time Princess Five roller her car. See that post here.

I polished one up and gave it to them and then my sister and I couldn't remember what happened to the rest of the items. Her daughter just got married and I asked her about the silver thinking we wanted to get her one. We both looked and neither of us could find it.

Today I was looking for some self sealing bottles in my garage and noticed a silver chest with some blue painters tape on it. The only time I have seen that used was when we cleaned out my mothers estate. I had no recollection of putting that chest there and it must have been during a busy time for me to not remember ever putting it there. It made me sad that my life has been so busy this past year that I can't even remember things I should be able to remember.

I pulled it out and took it into the kitchen and found the serving pieces we had been looking for to give to the grand-children for their weddings. I was happy about that and let my sister know I had found it and am excited to have her daughter over to pick one out when she is in town.

I spent a few hours this afternoon polishing them all up with silver paste and they all looked beautiful in the end but I was black and had a large mess when I finished but I cleaned up quickly with some soap and water. I took some ribbon / tulle and tied bows on each of them so that they were ready for me to share as I needed them. There were also some little spoons that I polished to give to the newest grand and great-grandchildren.

I then wrapped them all in a gallon zip bag hoping to keep them from tarnishing before I am able to distribute them. I picked out some cards from my mothers estate but forgot to bring them home so one of my sisters has them but I thought it would be fun to give them a card that was hers as well. In the end thought it doesn't matter, I think they would just like to know that they got an heirloom from Grandma.

I wanted to share that idea as I know that lots of the elderly had silver sets and it isn't as popular now but I don't think anyone would be sad to get a nice silver serving set or piece from grandma.

I think it would be a cool wedding gift in general if someone is moving on in age and slimming down the belongings, I would think it was wonderful if someone gave me a piece of their own silver as a wedding gift. Just think of all the money you would save on wedding gifts and you would also be cleaning out your house at the same time. There aren't lots of used items you can give away that people would appreciate but I would love something like that. So, I thought I would share the idea.

Have a Blessed Day!