The Wedding Brooch
by Gabrielle Ewing - 19
When my grandmother looks at this simple but beautiful brooch she is filled with a bittersweet feeling. She smiles slightly while thinking about the Autumn of 1952 and how unexpected it was that her soon-to-be husband would gift her with this piece of jewellery on their wedding day.
She was thrilled to get it on such a turbulent day. When gazing at the brooch a memory comes floating in of that Saturday morning as her twenty-year-old self places the brooch under the collar of her white lace wedding dress.
When most girls imagine their wedding day they tend to imagine their mothers with them, helping them get ready and watching proudly as they walk down the aisle. Yet the comforting presence of her mother is not there. When my grandmother looked at her reflection that morning it looked nothing like she would have imagined as a girl. She saw only herself, alone.
This brooch also reminds my grandmother of the sad and stressful times surrounding the wedding. The wedding was planned to take place weeks before it eventually did. Her mother had planned every detail of the wedding.
When my great-grandmother died my grandmother’s wedding was postponed for six weeks. This period was devastating for my grandmother, but she and her soon to be husband’s family came together to plan a simpler and smaller wedding
This experience allowed my grandmother to realise that although this brooch may remind her of a time that was full of loss, it was also a beautiful time because she still had many wonderful people in her life.
It was also the time when she married her true love Al. She went on to spend fifty wonderful years with before he passed away in 2002.
Looking at the brooch one last time before she places it back in its velvet box she simply says the word ‘memories’. It is amazing that a small and simple object can be a passage to so many tragic yet beautiful recollections.
by Gabrielle Ewing - 19
When my grandmother looks at this simple but beautiful brooch she is filled with a bittersweet feeling. She smiles slightly while thinking about the Autumn of 1952 and how unexpected it was that her soon-to-be husband would gift her with this piece of jewellery on their wedding day.
She was thrilled to get it on such a turbulent day. When gazing at the brooch a memory comes floating in of that Saturday morning as her twenty-year-old self places the brooch under the collar of her white lace wedding dress.
When most girls imagine their wedding day they tend to imagine their mothers with them, helping them get ready and watching proudly as they walk down the aisle. Yet the comforting presence of her mother is not there. When my grandmother looked at her reflection that morning it looked nothing like she would have imagined as a girl. She saw only herself, alone.
This brooch also reminds my grandmother of the sad and stressful times surrounding the wedding. The wedding was planned to take place weeks before it eventually did. Her mother had planned every detail of the wedding.
When my great-grandmother died my grandmother’s wedding was postponed for six weeks. This period was devastating for my grandmother, but she and her soon to be husband’s family came together to plan a simpler and smaller wedding
This experience allowed my grandmother to realise that although this brooch may remind her of a time that was full of loss, it was also a beautiful time because she still had many wonderful people in her life.
It was also the time when she married her true love Al. She went on to spend fifty wonderful years with before he passed away in 2002.
Looking at the brooch one last time before she places it back in its velvet box she simply says the word ‘memories’. It is amazing that a small and simple object can be a passage to so many tragic yet beautiful recollections.
