I have wonderful friends and family who do their best to spruce up my appearance, in this case via priceless pieces for my jewelry collection.
In a recent column I talked about my luck in finding a penny representing my birth year, a penny with a hole punched through it to allow a thin chain to be threaded into the hole for a necklace.
So far the penny remains in the pouch awaiting me being able to figure out where I might have put my collection of gold and silver chains. Perhaps in one of my four jewelry boxes, one of the boxes I’ve had since my 16th birthday. It has held up physically much better than its owner, but that’s a story for another time.
Soon after the penny column was published, I received some correspondence from a long-time friend — a letter not off a computer but a letter handwritten in blue ink inside a charming card with a smiling rabbit on the front. The envelope carried my name only, but the note was addressed to both of us in the house. Sharing is the way we run in this home.
Our friend Marg wrote: “Your column about finding your birth year penny was most interesting. When you mentioned making a hole in the coin it reminded me of a trinket someone gave me many years ago.
“It was a 10-cent coin with a hole in it. A safety pin was put through the hole so it could be pinned to your blouse or jacket.
“Someone would invariably ask about it and the reply is ‘that is my dime and pin!’
“So I am enclosing a do-it-yourself kit for you.”
A dime was taped to a piece of paper and a large safety pin was attached below the coin.
“As you wear your copper pendant, you can also wear your dime&pin to show folks you are affluent.”
We chuckled at the message and my new pieces of jewelry and appreciated once again the wit and wisdom of our friend.
But she wasn’t finished. “Take note this is a special dime. It has an engraving of a golfer on the reverse ... it says open championship of Canada.”
I will not be sharing that coin with any golfers of my acquaintance. I do hope to find someone who can put in a hole strategically to allow the pin to be threaded through.
In the meantime I’ve been invited to snoop through my sister’s jewelry drawer to check out her many necklaces to see if there’s a few I might like to add to my collection. Maybe I’ll find a nickle and a quarter, a 50-cent piece or a silver dollar in there to bolster my monetary collection.
By the time I add in some of my mother’s broaches and necklaces, I will need to invest in a whole new wardrobe to properly show off my “affluence.”
Thanks to friends and family for trying their best to ensure I have the proper adornments to go along with well-worn jeans and Alia T-shirts. And if I am ever forced to wear evening attire, I know my new jewelry will be noticed and envied.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
