Selling gold is nothing new. Back in college I sold some junk to buy a guy a box set. Later on I sold some to pay bills. More again to buy Christmas gifts. And lets not forget the month I needed to in order to cover the car payment. Yep, gold is no longer in fashion AND it's worth quite a bit these days. Being an Italian in the Bronx meant you owned your share of the stuff so it's been lucrative all these years later. But today was different. I sold some of my mother's old pieces. It was one of her requests as she rattled off an odd to do list in the hospital. I went for specific pieces today. Let's rewind a bit...
I was a kid of about 13 or so. There was a little Italian restaurant that we would frequent as a family. We would hit the Early Bird Special if my Dad got out a tad early from work or if the trains were running just right. It was a wonderful meal and the only place my Mom and Dad agreed was suitable for the standards...mussels fra diavlo, canneloni, manicotti...etc. These were meals made at home the "right" way. After a weekly visit for months or so for my Mom decided she needed to be there more often and took a job waiting tables. The money was nice and she used it to treat us to goodies but it was the excitement that sucked her in. It also sucked me in somehow because there I was (illegally) waiting tables and serving as busgirl way before I should have known what went on in little Italian restaurants in the Bronx. Across from the "coffee" place. (Think Sopranos if you aren't following me thus far). Anyway, I made really good money. I tucked it away and saved it. I was responsible even as a goofball teenager. I used some of it to buy an oil painting my Mom fell in love with. I got my Dad some shirts at Gimbels (I think it was STILL there at the time). Oh, and for Mother's Day that year I marched into the neighborhood jeweler and purchased the bracelet she had been drooling over in the window for months. It was $200. Expensive even for today's standards. But she was worth every penny. If I got a tip of $5 for grabbing an espresso for the mob guy it went into my stash. So it took some time. She loved it and wore it for years. As the years passed so did the trinkets purchased with my little and big jobs. There was the ever popular "MOM" ring encrusted with diamonds. The #1 Mom charm. All of the tokens of adoration that a kid bought for the Mom she loved.
Years go by. Wrists swollen with arthritis no longer allow bracelet wearing. Fingers that don't function properly have too much trouble with clasps. Staying in bed is no longer reason enough to put on jewelry. So it sits in the fancy jewelry cabinet wondering when it lost its glimmer. When it became outdated. When it was retired. Today I took it to the jeweler for cash. Cash that is much needed right now so much so that I am not sure where exactly to use it. It was hard selling my class ring, my nameplate and the gifts that I once held so dear...but this was saying goodbye to so much more. I am holding onto the irreplaceable don't get nervous. But this was the time for these things. My Mom was an amazing woman. I have the memories, the personality traits and the cooking skills to prove it...a little piece of gold can't do that and though they are no longer in her jewelry box...they are always in my heart.
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