sorry to be sensible..
but if you don't want them, take them to an antique shop and sell them for whatever they offer.

Personally, I think the fact she gave you one of her most prized possessions is rather touching and the fact that you have zero appreciation either for the gesture or for the sentimental value those bowls would have had for her is not a particularly good comment about you, I'm afraid.

I've had a lot of crap I didn't want given to me over the years, but it meant something to the person who gave it to me and, if I really didn't want it or have room to store it, I just took it to a junk shop (away from where the person who gave the item to me might wander in and see it on sale) and sold them. You might be surprised how much a decent pair of cristal bowls can be worth, but also the old lady seemed genial, kind and good fun - why disrespect her kindness?
(Chad, Wed 5 Nov 2008, 11:31, 2 replies)

If I'm right in guessing the lady in question is fairly advanced in years, then it's entirely possible that she's finding good homes for her treasured posessions before death finds her.

That she wanted you to have something so dear to her suggests that a: she really does like you and b: you should take good care of them.
(Musuko, Wed 5 Nov 2008, 17:13, closed)

I didn't refuse them because I didn't want them
I refused them because I felt it may not be appropriate for me to have them. I'd only just met her and as I was with her daughter and other members of her family (to whom she offered nothing) I felt awkward.

Of course I appreciated her kindness, I was extremely touched and I said so. I wasn't rude or thoughtless about it. I just felt it may have been too big a gesture, and that if she was perhaps going slightly senile I would feel wrong about accepting gifts she wouldn't have normally offered me.
( warmfuzzies Isn't here, Wed 5 Nov 2008, 17:30, closed)

It could be...
...that she felt you more deserving than they. You can't choose your family, but you can choose not to let them get their ungrateful mitts on an undeserved inheritance.

Also, some people have a knack; of sizing up people they've just met with uncanny accuracy. I can know people for years, but still not figure what makes them tick. On the other hand, I know people capable of instant telepathic-grade character analysis.

Perhaps she was planning to move into a residential care facility, and couldn't take them with her.

There's any number of possible reasons, but she sounds like she was of sound mind (mere playfulness does not correlate to mental incapacity); and they were hers to do with as she wished. So, you now have something really nice to remember her by. And finally, in my experience, it's only those who *don't* question such events, that are undeserving to receive them.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Thu 6 Nov 2008, 6:26, closed)