And so maybe i shouldn't have been surprised...
When i was planning the wedding with my second husband, Grandma, the daughter of a jeweler, took a keen interest in the rings. And when it turned out that she wouldn't be able to travel to the wedding, we arranged to make a "detour" to visit her and her husband at their home - several hours further south than our intended honeymoon destination - bringing wedding favors and cake. I knew that pretty much as soon as we sat down, i had better present the rings for inspection - we'd decided on vintage jewelry for me, both the engagement ring and the band. So when i held out my hands so Grandma could take a good look, i was a little taken aback when she started to giggle... not quite the reaction i'd expected.
I looked up, befuddled, and Grandma said simply, "you're not going to believe this." And then she scampered (86, and she scampered) back to her bedroom.
A moment later, she reappeared, and pressed a ring into my hand. "That's the ring my daddy carved for me when i married your Grandpa."
It was the exact same pattern, a wreath of simple orange blossoms all the way around the band.
I had never seen it before - i remember her wearing a wide, plain band of yellow gold. Hers was slightly thicker, and made in platinum, while mine is white gold. Mine is actually probably the older of the two - i've only found fragments about the maker, but it looks like the company probably went under in the Depression. Hers, of course, was custom made in 1944.
I now wear both bands together. It was the one thing of hers i was really determined to have.
4 comments:
Incredible story. I was very touched and got teary eyed. Your Grandma must have been a very lovely person. Keep writing down the memories, they are the greatest gift she'll ever give you. I was close to my Grandma too, she lived to 101, I miss her everyday.
Thanks - i wish i could have recorded more from her, but the really good stories only started coming out later, and invariably when i was somewhere i couldn't do anything but listen and hope to remember - she had a way of getting into a talky mood when i was on my cell phone in a parking lot somewhere. Not that i minded sitting and listening at all, but there was no way i could record or even do much in the way of taking notes, and i hate to think of losing any details...
Just write down what you remember now. I was lucky, my mother and grandmother wrote a book of all her stories and self published it for all of her grandchildren (8 in all) and we'll pass it on to her great-grandchildren (22 in all).
That's part of why i've been doing batches of blog posts - and since my sister and i are the only grandchildren, i'm not sure who else would do it.
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