Something Old

Grandma's Ring

When my Grandma Blanche died in the Summer of 1995, my family and I joined my Grandpa in packing up her things and cleaning out his house. He told us that he had no idea where her wedding rings were. He couldn't remember what she had done with them and didn't think she even knew what she had done with them. Maybe she had hidden them away somewhere?
At one point I found a pair of rings that looked like a wedding band and an engagement ring. They had been slipped onto the top of a bottle of nail polish. I was so excited I ran downstairs to the basement where Grandpa was cleaning out a pantry closet. I showed him the rings and he examined them under the light. Nope. Not them. "Probably decoys," he said. Grandma was always paranoid that someone was going to burglarize their home and take her valuables. I get it.
Back to cleaning and packing things up.
Since I inherited Grandma's little feet I got to take home a bunch of pairs of vintage shoes. I also brought home some dresses and a pile of flannel pajamas. I was happy to have some things of hers to help me remember her.
One night I was getting ready for bed and I pulled out one of those pairs of flannel pajamas. As I pulled the top around my shoulders I realized there was something stuffed into the breast pocket. It was a tissue. Honestly, the first thought that crossed my mind was gross. Then I realized it wasn't a used tissue. It had something in it. Something small but substantial.
Tears streaming down my face, I ran downstairs to my Dad who was sitting in his chair, watching TV.

I found them Dad! I found the rings!

We called Grandpa immediately. He cried too when I told him.
We gave him the rings. There were three. One was an engagement ring, one was a wedding band and one was a cocktail ring. The cocktail ring was made from a pair of earrings that belonged to Grandpa's mother. She had taken the diamond earrings and made them into two rings. She gave one to each of her two sons, my Grandpa and his brother Fred. Grandpa gave the ring to Grandma.
Grandpa used the diamonds from the engagement ring and the wedding band to make a new wedding band for himself. When he died, Dad took that ring and had it remade into his own wedding band.
The cocktail ring? Grandpa gave it to me for finding the three rings. He called me bright eyes after that. He gave me a card when he gave me the ring. I still have it. The card and the ring. I'm proud to have worn it as my something old.