Saturday Story Time – On-time delivery

As I have mentioned before, I spent a few of my years in the jewellery biz doing insurance estimates and replacements.  It was a difficult endeavor, and I admire those who do it well.

Not everyone was happy to have their insurance adjuster refer them to some jewellery store they’d never heard of, but in this instance I was well received.  I worked on 109^th St. and Jasper Avenue in Edmonton about 2 blocks away from the General Hospital.  As if suffering a home invasion wasn’t bad enough, this happened to a family whose mom was fighting a losing battle to cancer.  She had just been moved from the Cross Cancer Institute to the palliative care ward at the General Hospital.

She attended the appointment to evaluate the lost jewellery, and subsequently participated in the selection of new jewellery.  In this case; she chose to replace one lost ring with a ring for each daughter.  I still recall the exact designs.  They were Master Design diagonally channel-set bands; one with diamonds and the other with rubies.

When the rings arrived, I called the husband.  He told me that he couldn’t leave the hospital, as his wife was getting much worse.  I offered to bring them to him at the General.  I wrapped them beautifully, and ran straight over.

It was the next day that he called to let me know that she had passed during the night.  The family was grateful that they were able to say their goodbyes, and she was most pleased that she was able to personally give those rings to her daughters.

Something really hit home to me that day.  Gifts of jewellery are so much more than something we buy-low and sell-high to make money.  They’re more than silver, gold and the 4 C’s.  They’re durable symbols of honor and affection. Tokens immemorial. They’re gifts of love.  Heirlooms.