06
Jul 10Ringworld.
The story of the diamond currently living in the engagement ring was pretty long, so I asked my mom to write it down:
The diamond in the ring was originally in a tie-pin and belonged to the uncle of my mother’s father. My grandfather was fond of the pin and his uncle granted it to him in his will. My grandfather died of stomach cancer when I was in the first grade. (The family thought that the cancer might have been a result of all the coal dust he had inhaled when shoveling coal as a fireman on the Milwaukee Road Railroad. He was later promoted to Engineer on the ‘Hiawatha’, the Milwaukee Road train that ran between Milwaukee and LaCross, Wis.)
My mother’s mother had never lived alone, and was afraid to do so as a widow. After my grandfather died, my parents built a duplex on what had been our side yard, so that my grandmother could come to live with us. (You have seen that red brick house, across the street from the little Saveland Park in Milwaukee, near my Aunt Rosemary’s house.)
After my grandfather’s death, my grandmother gave the diamond to my father, and wanted very much for him to wear it, to use it. Since my dad never used tie pins, diamond or not, he figured that setting the stone in a ring was the only way he would ever wear it – before that he only wore his wedding ring. Once the diamond was set in the ring, dad wore the ring on his right hand all the remaining days of his life, out of love and respect for my grandmother. He would never have chosen to wear a diamond ring otherwise, and never used any other jewelry. As you can see, my dad had large ‘workman’s hands’ [You can't see, but the previous ring was almost big enough for me to wear as a bracelet].
Since my sister has no children, the ring came to me when my father died. I have intended ever since to pass it on to you, as I intend to pass on my mother’s platinum & diamond engagement/wedding rings to [my sister]. But like my grandmother before me, I really hope the diamond is used and regularly worn.
Tagged: personal