What could possibly still be useful after 43 years?

My husband and I will celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary this week. I'm not sure where 43 years have gone or if I even have a good comprehension of them. The old adage keeps creeping through my mind: The days creep and the years fly.

I was thinking, besides my husband and myself, which of the wedding gifts we received do we still find useful?

I'll have to start by exempting the fine china (Franciscan Royal Renaissance) and crystal (Franciscan Elyse) from the list. Is it still useful? Yes. Is it used? Not really. More's the pity because it's beautiful and rich and comes with service for 12 and all the serving pieces. It was bought with the idea that if we didn't get it as wedding gifts, we'd never have the money/time/see the sense of getting it at all. And that's true. It's no longer made, it's worth more than it was listed for 43 years ago, and is… beautiful. But in a drawer. Or two or three.

We still use the silverware (Oneida Michaelangelo), good stainless steel. I have service for 18 or so since my mother had it also and my sister and upon my mother's death, we split her service for 12.

There are steak knives from Neiman Marcus, with very good bone handles. I know who gifted them. As I do the porcelain hanging lamp in the living room, the one with the orange flowers. It's subtle and since we've had the thing rewired at least 3 times, it's with us to stay. The yellow Club aluminum remains in the presence of the huge stock pots which I use to make jelly. I even have an original set of sheets because they were so fine I didn't use them until recently. A card table and 4 chairs purchased with my mother's green stamps. (If the 43 years didn't date me, then THAT just did!)

There's some Corningware, a strainer, a set of avocado green measuring cups which I finally retired to the cat food box. An electric carving knife. A few utensils that ended up in our wedding share when my father-in-law's business moved.

And, of course, the grapefruit spoons. Four of them, stainless steel, serrated edge, perfect. Just four spoons from a family friend. Selfishly, we thought surely there would be something else. It was JUST four spoons. Perhaps she was giving us the greater lesson, because we use these all the time. Not the steak knives, not the Club aluminum, not the card table or carving knife. These.

Useful. Used. Remembered.