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Source I mentioned last week that I still have my grandmother’s button box. When she sold her house and dispersed her belongings it was one of the two things I wanted most. (Along with her sewing machine, which I foolishly let a cousin take to save a nasty scene. But that’s another story.)

I think three. This button box, the second thing, which is not identified here, and finally this sewing machine. Am I correct? Thank you.

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I would actually interpret this as just two- the button box and the sewing machine, and since she let the sewing machine go to avoid a scene, she is left with only the button box.

Jim
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  • But "along with" means "in addition to" so the sewing machine is a seprate thing I think. –  Oct 29 '13 at 05:07
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    I think in this case it means "in addition to the button box" – Jim Oct 29 '13 at 05:11
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Decoding the paragraph:

Sentence 1: Clearly states that she has the Button box.

Sentence 2: Button box and the 'other thing' she wanted. So 2 things she wanted.

Sentence 3: Along with sewing machine => sewing machine is one of the two things she wanted. This sentence came as an explanation to what the 'other thing' in sentence2 is.

So the Result is 2. Two things she wanted.

The confusing point for you i think is the punctuation between s2 and s3. If it is not there it will be simple in meaning.

VijayaRagavan
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  • remind that in sentence 2 the subject is "button box" which is "one of the two things" she wanted most.. and in sentence 3 comes the explanation for "other thing" than the button box.. – Berker Yüceer Oct 29 '13 at 09:45
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    @BerkerYüceer: That is what I explained. – VijayaRagavan Oct 29 '13 at 10:27
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    What I meant in sentence 2 if you also tell which is the subject would be better to understand and yea my explanation repeats yours. Sorry for that. – Berker Yüceer Oct 29 '13 at 12:44