My grandmother's brooch
Dec. 30th, 2004 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fatesfollyMy grandmother was the best of both worlds when it comes to the duality between the practical woman and the fru-fru diva of glamor. Her cooking and baking were legendary, as were her sewing, but she was also a very dressy woman. She was always trying to get me to be just a bit more frilly than I was. Her daughter, my mother, was at the other end of the spectrum from her. She was very practical. Make-up would break her skin out and she was never comfortable in dresses and heels. I think I landed in the middle, tending toward tomboy with fits of frilliness.
My grandfather gave my grandmother a mink stole sometime before I was born. As a child and a budding sensation junkie, I would beg to feel it when we were in her room and near her closet. When I was nineteen and my other grandfather died, I begged to wear it to the funeral. Damn the etiquette that says mink should not be worn at funerals... I wanted to wear it. It was the only time I ever wore it. When she died last year, Kimberly had said she wanted it to make the trim on a wool jacket for herself, but I cringed at the thought of someone cutting the stole apart that I had loved for so long. It now hangs in my closet and I often run my fingers down its silky fur when I'm near.
The other thing I inherited, but I was at a loss as what to do with it, was her jewelry. She had real and costume jewelry from around the world. Kimberly told me that it was mine, but she'd take whatever I did not want.
Now anyone who knows me knows I am a jewelry minimalist. I wear one ring, my wedding ring, which is small and unobtrusive. Half the time, my one piercing in each ear is empty, but when I do wear earrings, they are small and do not dangle. Counting the necklace I got for Christmas, I can count two necklaces I wear on regular occasions: my pearls and the Christmas necklace. And that's it. What's a plain Jane like me going to do with all that jewelry?
I tried to go through it with an open mind. The pieces she got in Bethlehem on her trip to the Holy Lands I kept for sentimental reasons. Her pearls I kept. (go figure) Her wedding set I kept. Her lockets I kept. Now what do I do with all this other stuff? Jane came over while I sorted. She tried helping me with ideas as to what I should do with some of it. Granny had a half dozen large velvet boxes with what Jane called pageant jewelry inside. (Pageant jewelry?? My grandmother was never in a pageant!!) All costume, they were pretty, but so terribly NOT me. She suggested I sell it. I could not do that. I couldn't imagine some stranger with my grandmother's jewels. She suggested selling it to her sister in law, who is a former beauty queen and is constantly being called to host, judge, and appear at those things. That was it. I'd give them to Beth. I loved the idea of my grandmother's jewels parading around on an actual stage. They'd have a new life!
I quickly got a bag and started placing the velvet boxes inside. Jane suggested I keep one set, just for sentimental reasons. I did so, but really wondered why. I chose a hot pink set of a brooch and matching earrings. They came home with me that day and went to the back of my dresser drawer.
This weekend is New Years' Eve. Actually, tomorrow night is. Lee made plans for us to spend the night out of town and attend some party with a band. He still has to work until 7 and will have to work on Saturday, too, but he's really excited about going. This morning, as I was figuring out what I was going to wear, I remembered the brooch and earrings. I think they might match my outfit and it's a celebratory event enough that I think I wouldn't feel to outlandish wearing them.
I'm going to try to take some photos of them later and if I do, I'll post them. The jewelry is very lovely and it's a shame that they sit in their dark little box all the time.
My grandfather gave my grandmother a mink stole sometime before I was born. As a child and a budding sensation junkie, I would beg to feel it when we were in her room and near her closet. When I was nineteen and my other grandfather died, I begged to wear it to the funeral. Damn the etiquette that says mink should not be worn at funerals... I wanted to wear it. It was the only time I ever wore it. When she died last year, Kimberly had said she wanted it to make the trim on a wool jacket for herself, but I cringed at the thought of someone cutting the stole apart that I had loved for so long. It now hangs in my closet and I often run my fingers down its silky fur when I'm near.
The other thing I inherited, but I was at a loss as what to do with it, was her jewelry. She had real and costume jewelry from around the world. Kimberly told me that it was mine, but she'd take whatever I did not want.
Now anyone who knows me knows I am a jewelry minimalist. I wear one ring, my wedding ring, which is small and unobtrusive. Half the time, my one piercing in each ear is empty, but when I do wear earrings, they are small and do not dangle. Counting the necklace I got for Christmas, I can count two necklaces I wear on regular occasions: my pearls and the Christmas necklace. And that's it. What's a plain Jane like me going to do with all that jewelry?
I tried to go through it with an open mind. The pieces she got in Bethlehem on her trip to the Holy Lands I kept for sentimental reasons. Her pearls I kept. (go figure) Her wedding set I kept. Her lockets I kept. Now what do I do with all this other stuff? Jane came over while I sorted. She tried helping me with ideas as to what I should do with some of it. Granny had a half dozen large velvet boxes with what Jane called pageant jewelry inside. (Pageant jewelry?? My grandmother was never in a pageant!!) All costume, they were pretty, but so terribly NOT me. She suggested I sell it. I could not do that. I couldn't imagine some stranger with my grandmother's jewels. She suggested selling it to her sister in law, who is a former beauty queen and is constantly being called to host, judge, and appear at those things. That was it. I'd give them to Beth. I loved the idea of my grandmother's jewels parading around on an actual stage. They'd have a new life!
I quickly got a bag and started placing the velvet boxes inside. Jane suggested I keep one set, just for sentimental reasons. I did so, but really wondered why. I chose a hot pink set of a brooch and matching earrings. They came home with me that day and went to the back of my dresser drawer.
This weekend is New Years' Eve. Actually, tomorrow night is. Lee made plans for us to spend the night out of town and attend some party with a band. He still has to work until 7 and will have to work on Saturday, too, but he's really excited about going. This morning, as I was figuring out what I was going to wear, I remembered the brooch and earrings. I think they might match my outfit and it's a celebratory event enough that I think I wouldn't feel to outlandish wearing them.
I'm going to try to take some photos of them later and if I do, I'll post them. The jewelry is very lovely and it's a shame that they sit in their dark little box all the time.
