Picture Post – now explained
Well, it seems I never made it back for the story behind these pictures.
A few weeks ago, DH’s grandmother passed away. She was 94 and lived a very full life. The family had asked if there was anything I wanted of hers and I had replied that I would take any of the cheap costume jewelry that nobody wanted. I figured surely there was SOMETHING in there that would be nice to upcycle.
When I was going through the bag they had given me I came across several religious medals. This cross spoke to me the loudest however. This cross had a reason for being in my hands. It had a journey to go on!
Remember a long time ago how I was lamenting over my nephew’s decision to join the Army? While I am incredibly proud of him, I’m also selfish in not wanting any harm to come of him. He had recently been home for his last visit before he was to be deployed to Iraq. Well, with Grandma passing away, he was granted emergency leave to attend the funeral just a few days before he was scheduled for deployment. We got one more visit in as a gift from Grandma.
As I held this cross it was as if Grandma was whispering down to me that it needed to go with my nephew. I did some research to see what he was allowed to wear, and yes, he could wear a religious symbol. So, I headed down to my studio, grabbed some copper sheeting, copper wire, and some scrap sterling silver sheeting.
This is what came forth in the end. A medal that was about the same size as his dog tags bearing the following wish:
I’m pretty happy with it. I love the front. The back is a bit, well, let’s say it has character!
He was scheduled to leave nearly 2 weeks ago, but his deployment got pushed back. He will be heading over there soon enough though and won’t be back in time for Christmas now most likely.
Now Grandma’s cross is with my nephew and she can watch over him.
