Auntie Barbara Would Love Them

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I finally did it. It took ten years.

Auntie Barbara's old amethyst pendant and earrings left to me in her will in March of 1997, have been set into a ring and earrings by Vicki the Jeweler of Hoboken, NJ. I was a junior in college when I got word that I had been left something of hers. Mom said it was jewelry. You can imagine how emotional it was when I opened the box to see her handwritten note w/ my Randy Lane address on it. Almost as if to say, I know you left Holly Lane but I forgive you. I imagined her writing the address knowing she was very ill but that she wanted me to have something to remember her by. And it was purple. Our color. I went through a purple phase growing up where that color was my favorite. It was one of those things that Auntie Barbara would always remember whether it was a gift of purple pj's or a purple teddy bear. Seeing the purple shining back at me in the silver box next to her note brought me to tears and I felt her presence around me instantly. From that moment forward, I decided a ring and earrings I would wear would be the right way to celebrate the gift.

The earrings and pendant traveled with me over the next ten years. They left Lehigh with me in 1999 and joined me in my first apartment in Rego Park, NY. They survived each and every apartment move from Grove St to Hudson Street in the village to the awful six months I spent alone out in Brooklyn. Every so often I would take the box out from its hidden location in my bottom dresser drawer and stare at them. It made me feel close to her and each time I looked at them I would think, "I have to take these somewhere and have that ring made."

I was strolling down Washington St this fall, October to be exact, when I passed a jewelry store. I decided then and there to bring my pendant and earrings to Vicki. When I walked in , I knew instantly I could trust her to bring my dream to fruition. She was warm and inviting, energetic and frenetic. A teacher in Hoboken during the day who has owned her store in Hoboken on Washington for over 25 years, I was drawn to her instantly. Vicki had spunk. She walked me through books showing me settings. She measured the 3 amethysts and was able to extract them from Auntie Barbara's old pendant and clip-on earrings in 18k gold. She helped me choose gold over silver and the antique setting over something more modern. Though she was busy at the time with engagement rings, she promised to hold on to the stones and order the materials for build. The Christmas rush hit and I got busy, too. I checked in with Vicki around my birthday in January. She said she would be ordering the settings that week.

Last weekend, I walked by the shop with Kelly and Molly and saw her frantically running around inside no doubt trying to rush out to spend the rest of her weekend with her two boys and husband. I walked in to say hello - she told me she had a surprise for me. Vicki walked back to the safe. I said, "Oh, did the settings come in? Can I take a look?" She said with a huge grin that yes, they had come in and that she had done the work. "They're here. They're done." I dropped dramatically to my knees in the middle of the store as she pulled them out of the safe. They were wrapped in tissue. I unwrapped the earrings first. And then the ring. I was feeling a number of emotions at the time: relief that I had taken action to finally get this done, astonshment that I was holding the finished product and joy. Auntie Barbara was definitely there last Saturday with me as Kelly and Molly waited patiently on the sidewalk. I tried the ring on and ran over to the window to hold it up for Kelly. Simply gorgeous.

I just picked up the earrings and ring today because I didn't have money on me last week - just dog treats, my keys and poop bags! But I think there was a reason for the long wait from October to now and then the last final 7 days of knowing they were done. I'm not sure what that reason is. But if I had to guess, it's that Auntie Barbara was with me the whole time. Even though the stones had been in a setting that I couldn't wear, it wasn't about making them "new" or modern. Either way, they are a constant reminder of who she was to me, how much she meant to our family, and how much we all loved her. I miss her a lot. But I know that I'm lucky to have experienced love from such a self-less, caring, wonderful woman.