On my grandmother's 70th birthday her children, my mother and her siblings, got together to buy her a pair of diamond and ruby earrings. Though I imagine she reacted to the gift the way that my own mother does, by saying that she didn't need anything, and that they shouldn't have spent any money on her, she loved those earrings.
On my last trip to visit her I remember her wearing them every day. My mother told me that even just before she died in the hospital, when she was suffering a great amount of pain, she would ask about them. The doctor would comment on them, on how much they glittered, and my grandmother would preen like a schoolgirl at the compliment.
After she died my mother brought them home with her and turned them into pendants for necklaces. One for me and one for my sister.
Every time I put it on I take an extra moment to look at it in the mirror - it really does glitter more than any other jewellery I own. When I receive a compliment for it, I remember to stop and pose and let myself feel like a schoolgirl.
There is something so special about this necklace to me. That it belonged to my grandmother, of course, and that it reminds me of her. But mostly that it made her feel beautiful.
She was that, and so much more.
I miss her.
Happy Birthday Nonna.
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