I'm Writing This with a Little Tear in My Eye.

Yes, of course, something like this was bound to happen. I took six settings of china, the Lenox , six gohlets, six nice beautiful napkins, and six settings of my beautiful silverware down to the church today and I set up a table for the mutual etiquette dinner. Everything looked beautiful and so did all of the other table settings. I went home and Zack went down to the church. At about 8:10, I decided to go down and gather up my table settings just to make sure I got everything home with me. The evening had gone well, and the dishes were being washed and sorted. I got my box and started packing all my things. And - one of my teaspoons was missing. My sterling silver teaspoon! They asked what it looked like and I said(very calmly, but seriously), "it looks like all these other silver spoons in my hand. " They said Julie hadn't worried about hers too much when they couldn't find one of her forks, because she said she could go to Kmart and get some others. They looked at me and I wasn't smiling. I said mine didn't come from Kmart, they were my mother's silverware given to me and it was sterling. All the adults got in a tizzy and started going through the garbage, they even went out and got one bag of garbage out of the dumpster, that they had taken out. They searched high and low. They said they would find it, and they would call me. It's funny how a thing like that can upset you so much, that you think you might say or do something that might offend. I felt almost shock leaving the church knowing I didn't have one of mom's spoons. It made me feel awfully bad. As I drove home, I thought about it and I realized that earlier I had been glad to share my table settings with the mutual. I know I can get another teaspoon on ebay, and I don't think that the price of the spoon is worth having a fit about. Yes, I feel bad, but I would feel worse if I told them "no," I can't share my stuff with anyone because it is too important, or if had been one of the adults in charge of the dinner where a beautiful cherished spoon was lost by me. I hope they can find it, and I know that they really feel bad about it, but now I have to reassure them that my good will does not hinge on my teaspoons, even if they were my mother's. The silverware is beautiful, and mom bought it with the intent to use it and love it. I use it and I love it and I will offer again to share it with others. That's what it is for, to be beautiful and be shared. Now I'm going to go look on ebay for a teaspoon.