linda, you're so knowledgeable and generous -- I love g'web :) Just went to the Beverly Bremer website and maybe I'll try sending them the pics as well. I also have a question about what you wrote--do you mean that Replacements does only American lines? I don't get it. I saw Waterford, Baccarat, etc. there...why are you thinking that it says that it's perhaps European? Continuing thanks and appreciation :)

Pam, there is a learning curve with NoScript. In the bottom right corner of your screen there is a blue "S" with a red mark across it when a script is blocked. When you go on Flickr, right click on that blue "S" and choose the option you want to use on Flickr. You can choose to "always allow" or "temporarily allow" either the whole website, or just portions. This program will provide you with a lot of protection on the internet, you just have to get adjusted to how it operates.

DLM, I think that you will never be sorry to have kept them. To keep them from being seen as "clutter" after you're gone, get them them properly packed and stored and then pick the right person to have custody of them for the next generation. It may be one of your DIL, or if you have nieces or nephews, perhaps one of them. I'd choose someone who appreciates family stories, and who would be a good - and generous with access -custodian of shared family history. In my DH's family when I got engaged there was a small family gathering,(mostly female) and the wedding dresses and some other family wedding memorabilia were sort of the organizing theme for the party. It was a great way to meet my some of my in-laws-to-be and feel included in my new family's story, Since my engagement diamond was re-set from an family piece, everyone wanted to see it in my new ring. It was a lovely tradition and I plan to do it when my nephew finally settles on a bride - even if it seems a bit old fashioned. What else is an elderly aunt for? Many times I hear people express a bit of envy that in my family and in my DH's we have so many "heirlooms" from generations gone by. Some things have by sheer old age have now become valuable, but most still have only modest monetary value. But they all tell the stories of the family - sometimes in modest circustances and sometimes not. Each succeeding generation chose to take care of these items and pass them on,probably always at some cost of in terms of time, trouble, or even perhaps the forgone value of selling them. This speaks volumes about the values cherished and passed down in our families. And that alone is worth the effort preserving these things as totems of the clan. Anyone can start one's own chain of family hierlooms, today. It has to start somewhere. L.

We got two gifts in total. A vacuum cleaner and a pressure cooker. Both most welcome and the pc is still in use. No ’shower’ and only 8 wedding guests. Just parents, siblings and their spouses. DD got married during covid with the permitted 6 guests but a year later we had a party with 100 guests. They requested no gifts, just donations to two charities. The Italian side of the family found this diffcult to grasp and gave a lot of knickknacks they neither want nor need.