Christina Berthaud
November 29, 2010
10:30 Class
There is silver diamond ring I wear on my necklace every day. It never comes off. It’s an old engagement ring. My father gave it to me in eighth grade. My father works at a nursing home, and from time to time I would go to work with him. My father used to come home and talk about his patients all the time. From some of the nicest little old ladies to the rudest ones. One time I went to work with my father and I met one of the patients, her name was Christina. She was one of the most cute, funny and nice old ladies. She was so happy to finally meet me because my father would talk about me to her all the time simply because we had the same name. Christina used to send my father home from work with things for me all the time. She once sent me ‘The Book of Completely Useless Information’, I think it was called. I actually took a look at it. Little did she know I was completely nonsensical. Another time, she sent me a Mickey Mouse crew neck sweater, and that was around the time the 80s fashion started coming back around so I gladly wore it. I remember I had it on when I met this boy Jesse I liked in middle school, I know realize he was not even that cute.
Everyday my father would come to with an update on Christina. He would tell me about how she loved Mickey Mouse and the old Disney characters since she was little. And so one day I was out and saw this cute Disney placemat and I sent it to work with my father for Christina to eat her food off of. He told me she loved it and could not wait to see me again. So the following week I went to visit her. She was having lunch on my placemat. Once she saw me she gave me a hug and exclaimed how thankful she was for the small gesture. That day she told me about her life and how she only had one child, a son. She also told me about when her husband died.
At least a month later my father came back home with a ring and he handed it to me. I asked where it was from and he said it was from Christina. She said it was her old engagement ring and she wanted me to have it. My father said she told him ‘Take this and bring it to your other beautiful Christina.’ Unfortunately the following week, she passed away. I wore the ring on my finger until it got tight, then put it on the necklace I got at my high school graduation, it’s been there ever since.
I was always given rings as gifts. For some reason rings were the only piece of jewelry I never lost. My father gave me my first ring, a ruby ring, on my Holy First communion. I still have it. My mother told me when my grandmother passed away that she left me a ring on a necklace and said to give it to me when I graduate college as gift from her. Gift giving if cherished in my family. Sure we give each other gifts all the time, but when they are expensive or passed down they mean so much more. When I was a little kid, my grandmother was my favorite person in the world, and she left me a gift. I plan on graduating to receive her gift and her blessing. And when i get older I can pass down the jewelry I received to my children.
My necklace & I :)
