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[Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Thanks Lynn and others for your support during this time.  I've found
that I can only think about it so much in one day, so I allow myself a
few minutes, and then I go on.....here's my few minutes...
The gold nugget/rings thing was such a surprise because we thought it
had been stolen.  In early 2005, before my Dad went into assisted living
 but during the time when his mind was failing, he took in not one but
TWO women, both in their early twenties.  His thinking, so he shared
with me, was that he hoped they would help him clean and cook(and do
other things..lol), since he was all but blind and was having trouble
getting around.  In actuality, these women were meth addicts and
alcoholics who used my Dad's place as their crash house.  They did
absolutely nothing for him, and in fact stole money and other things
from the apartment.  My cousin as well as my Dad's neighbors called the
police more than once on these girls, and they eventually took off.
That same week, my Dad had to go into the hospital for surgery and
apparently took off the necklace and left it at the apartment.  I know
my cousin filed a police report on the TV and other things that those
girls stole, but I will have to check with him on whether or not he
included the nugget.  If he did, and they are ever caught, that could be
the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor, but anyway...
After he came out of the hospital, no one could find the nugget, so we
assumed those girls had stolen it along with the other stuff.  A cursory
look through my father's things after his death still did not reveal
it's hiding place, so again, we assumed it had been stolen.  It was only
when my cousin was packing stuff up to send to me that he found the
necklace.  Knowing that it meant so much to him, it is a great find.  It
was taped inside his American Legion cap.  The old man might have had
Alzheimers, but he still had the good Finnish sense to hide things of
value. <g> He only hid it too well...lol..I wish, for his sake, that he
had remembered where he had hidden it, because I know it pained him to
think it was in a pawn shop somewhere.  He told me this last summer. He
kept saying, "I lost my Rose and I lost her ring"...yeah, it was
emotional (his wife's name was Rose), and I think that in some way, he
lost the will to go on after that, because he took a downward spiral,
mentally.
I don't know quite what to do with the necklace other than to have it
appraised, hide it away, and bequeath it to my own kids.  I could wear
it, I suppose, but I am not the jewelry wearing type and it looks rather
masculine anyway.  It would seem like sacrilege to have it made into
something else, but maybe if I thought of just the right thing.....I
dunno...maybe a pin, shaped like Oregon, with a rose and a
diamond...where Astoria would be...

Bev

clhw wrote:

> SUch a bittersweet time to dredge up old memories. At least you also 
> have some tangible reminders now. I think the melted rings is 
> romantically beautiful! You brought tears to my eyes by sharing this.
>  Lynn in SC
>
>
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--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W