When thinking about my silver, it’s not always the piece itself I treasure, but remembering how I became its lucky guardian. So instead of writing about my silver collection, I decided to share my collection of silver memories.

For instance, I will never forget the excitement I felt when a close friend gave me a piece of silver plate that belonged to Sonja Henie. It is just a worn little plate with a monogrammed "H." Sonja must have had dozens of them. But it is about as close to a celebrity as I’m going to get.

Then there was a Newport Sterling weighted candle stick I found for $1.99 at Goodwill. It was sticky, greasy, and oddly fuzzy when I held it up by two fingers and took it at arm's length to the cashier. Now it shines on my dresser and I can’t believe I almost passed it by.

And the thrill of a rummage sale find can best be understood by other weekend treasure hunters. One long day after driving all over town and finding nothing, I pulled up to my house and spotted a garage sale sign just four doors down the block. My adrenaline spiked when just yards from my own home I noticed an Amston sterling rimmed drinking glass coaster for 25 cents.

Another Saturday morning I pounced on a Louis XIV by Towle cream ladle for two dollars. Because of the particular shape of the bowl, my husband dubbed it Sweet Cheeks.

But my fondest memory is of the two of us ducking into a Salvation Army store to warm up during the Christmas parade. We weren’t the only frozen parade goers to seek refuge in the dust covered store. If we had been more observant when we walked through the door, we would have noticed that it was supposed to have closed about an hour earlier.

"We’re closing," the impatient store manager announced over and over again as yet more red faced folks hurried inside.

The phone rang and obviously it was the harried manager's wife wanting to know why he wasn't home yet. A line was forming at the cash register. After all, it was the holiday season and dusty or not, people were in the mood to shop.

That is about the time I noticed two tarnished silver bread and butter plates. I suppose I should mention that my grandmother used to put homemade cookies on little silver plates just like these. Of course I fell in love with them.

Automatically I turned them over. To my astonishment they were sterling by Tiffany! I clasped them to my heart. No one could have pried them loose from my icy grasp.

Then to my horror, above me on the wall loomed a sign that read, "Unpriced items will be returned to the warehouse for pricing." You guessed it, these two plates were unmarked.

I got into the long check out line. As it crawled forward, the manager’s wife called again. He looked grumpy, hung up, and growled at his assistant to turn off some of the lights.

I had just reached the front of the line when the phone rang again. He grabbed the receiver, stomped away from the counter, and signaled the assistant to take over for him.

"What about these plates," she called after him holding one of them up for him to see.

Annoyed, he bellowed, "Ninety-eight cents."

Not ninety-eight cents apiece, but ninety-eight cents for both of them!

The next day we mailed the organization a very generous check. We may have donated more than the plates were worth, but I will always remember getting the deal of a lifetime!