History in a flea market spoon

Did the woman who owned this spoon know the history of what she was dipping into her sugar and stirring her tiny cup with? Admiral Dewey looks out at the world from the handle of this tiny silver spoon.

Because of Admiral Dewey, I am writing in English. Prior to Admiral Dewey's appearance on the Philippines' fair shores, the language was Spanish. At the very time he showed up, Filipino revolutionaries had whipped the Spanish and declared the archipelago free of Spain. My great-grandfather was a colonel in that army.

I wonder if the woman who owned this spoon knew how the sky over Manila bay went ablaze at sunset. I wonder if she knew the sound of the wind in the trees on a sultry tropical afternoon. I wonder if she had ever been serenaded by a suitor on a moonless night, and given her approval with a nod from windows paned in sea shells. I wonder if the lady who owned this spoon ever gave a thought to the people whose lives changed with the coming of the American era?

Who knows? I only know that when I saw it in a tumble box of ephemera at the flea market, it called to me. For a dollar it became mine. So I can pull Admiral Dewey out of the drawer and scold him, and tell him about my great-grandfather, who had a Spanish school, and whose mysteries I am still unraveling.