Final…. i think narrative with possible titles

01Oct09

Sitting in my jewelry box tangled in thick and thin chains of gold, large dangling earrings, and silver watches, is a small engagement ring fused to its matching wedding band. With a modest sparkle of a diamond on top, it is a small humble remembrance of a time before mine. It was my grandmother’s ring and now I have it, with its warm golden shine reflecting memories that transcend any ordinary superficial possession.

It reminds me of summers when we would see my mother’s parents, my Mommom and Poppop. They would arrive with their little rolling suitcases, which they took up to my room where they stayed for few weeks.  Early in those summer mornings, while we were still sound asleep, my Poppop worked out in the garden digging huge holes to plant bushes that my mom would later forget to water. Late in the evenings my Mommom and Mom did laundry and talked for hours and hours. I used to feel jealous, complaining “Mom, you never pay attention to me when Mommom’s around.”

I am also reminded of when we traveled to Florida for Christmas. My brother, Jared and I took all of our blankets and pillows and turned the car seats into beds. Once we got there, we’d help set up a small artificial tree, stringing on rainbow colored lights and red shiny ornaments. The tree, white in color, reflected light across the entire room creating a warm ambience that these days I associate with the holidays.

Another night that resonates in my memory is when my grandmother, my mother, and myself went to Christmas Services. We sat high in the back mezzanine so that we had view of the entire church. When the preacher was done his sermon, the lights dimmed and everyone lit candles. Tiny flames flickered over a huge auditorium while the church choir sang Christmas carols. Songs echoed through the massive room of people, each of us holding a candle to create a sea of lights. I held my own candle; my Mom glanced down at me, smiling, and we were all together.

Short vivid memories float through my mind. Sitting on my Poppop’s lap while he sings “I love you a bushel and a peck,” listening to my mom on the phone late at night asking for Mommom’s advice, a large hibiscus flower sitting on the kitchen counter, which my Poppop would pick every morning, the chickity birds that gathered outside that Mommom watch and so would my Mom.

One memory I will never forget, the look in my Poppops eyes the day of Mommom’s funeral. At the time I was young and numb to what was going on but it has stayed with me, what it looks like to loose your soul mate.

During the funeral while people spoke, I envisioned my Mommom smiling. People talked, cried, sang, and laughed, about who she was, her loving soul. She sparkled with her own special kind of light. Every time someone spoke, I saw a new side of her.

And she had always planned on giving me that ring.

While she was sick, and slowly drifting away from cancer, she was prepared as everyone else was trying hard to hold on. Before our last trip to Florida she told my Mom that she wanted her wedding ring to be mine. She knew that it was something that I would always treasure. Years later I still have it and as I wear it on a chain around my neck, close to my heart, as connection to her spirit and to all my memories of her and my family.

Titles

True gold

Gleaming rememberance

Circle of illumination

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