My Mother's Necklace

Whoever knew her, knew of her necklace. And whoever knew me, knew I hated it. It was the first thing I divided up and gave away to the children after she died.

As soon as my mother heard another grandchild arrived she ran to the jeweler. She ordered a doll, even though she still didn't know the new baby's name. On the back of each gold charm their names and birthdates were engraved. The little boys had suspenders with two small diamonds and the little girls had triangular dresses with three diamond buttons. When the children were little they would sit on her lap and play with her necklace. They learned her simple childish songs as they counted her charms.

Eventually she divided the dolls onto three separate chains as the family grew. My mother proudly wore them across her chest. She stopped ordering the dolls by the time the last three girls were born. She claimed it was too heavy for her to wear. I ordered the charms for the youngest three children to receive after she died.

I didn’t want to give her a trophy as a child. Instead she made one for herself and proudly wore it around her neck wherever she went.