A precious talisman, suffused with story
This medallion commemorates my mother-in-law’s first birthday, 100 years ago today. It’s just over 1/2″ in circumference, so tiny that I needed a macro lens to bring the image into focus.
It’s 18K gold, handcrafted, the likes of which you don’t often see. But none of that matters as much as its personal value, which comes of the stories it tells…and the secrets it keeps.
Even at first glance, I recognized it as a religious artifact. Based on my Protestant upbringing, I assumed it was Mary and the baby Jesus. Familiar figures. Their crowns had a Western European flair, though, and the shape reminded me of the Saint Christopher medal I got from a “boyfriend,” back in elementary school.
Because of the crowns alone, I surmised it was a gift from someone on her father’s side of the family — Elysée was French, after all. Her mother, Mercedes, was a Russian immigrant. They were Jewish, as was their Manhattan-born little girl. So…hmmm. Was it a gift from a family friend, or from relatives who chose to hide their lineage in a fraught time, and who later converted to Catholicism?
So many missing pieces, I doubt I’ll ever know the full story. But when I posted these images to Facebook, my friends quickly identified the embossed figures. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is on the left. The Christ Child is sitting on her lap, holding a scapular. According to Catholic tradition, young children are often given scapulars of their own, in remembrance of their Heavenly Mother. So maybe the medallion was a special gift to commemorate Feast Day, which falls on July 16–just a few days before Gabrielle’s first birthday.
Image via sistersofcarmel.com
When Gabrielle gave me the medallion several years ago, I asked her to share its personal history—what did it mean to her, and did she remember where it came from?
Gabrielle, age 2
But time is a thief, isn’t it? It steals some of our most cherished memories, and leaves us to wonder about the talismans it scatters in its wake. And still, a century later, Gabrielle’s medallion is as beautiful as ever. It’s a cherished gift, same as before, but it has taken on new meaning. It speaks to me of an unbroken circle: friends first, and then mother- and daughter-in-law. My own story, linked forever with hers.
And it’s a symbol of the little child in all of us, whose stories are worthy, and who are themselves more precious than gold.