While gold is still the most precious of all minerals, silver may be the most popular because of its affordability. Sterling silver jewelry is still the type of choice for most people with 92.5 pure silver and the remaining 7.5 made of copper. Throughout the years, sterling silver jewelry designed has paved the way for creations that are both trendsetting and unique. But to my family, sterling silver jewelry has a deeper significance.
We have a tradition in our family that for every newborn relative within the family, my mom gives them a silver bracelet with their name engraved on it during their baptism. Part of this reason is the belief that an angel would protect the child better if the angel knew its name. The other reason has a background story to it.
During the Second World War, my mother’s family lived in Southeast Asia when the Japanese invaded their country. In haste, my grandparents along with some of my grandfather’s siblings and their immediate family evacuated to a makeshift house deep in the forest, away from the city which was being occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese started printing their own currency which to all extent was deemed worthless because it did not have the necessary gold reserves to back it. Knowing this, my grandparents had collected all the sterling silverwares available to them and then melted it to silver nuggets which could be used to barter for other goods. This form of bartering became useful to sustain that extended family that lived in the house. The family also fashioned silver sterling necklaces that could identify the children and in a worse case scenario, could be used for barter in dire circumstances.
My mother, who was an infant during those days, was given necklaces along with many of her older cousins. And they lived a simple but uneventful life for most of the time, hiding from Japanese patrols in their make shift Shangri la. Then one day, the family heard that my grandfather had been taken in for questioning. It happened so fast. My grandfather came down to the outskirts of the city to barter for some provisions like sugar, some meat, and lard. On the way back, he was stopped at a checkpoint handled by the Japanese and even if he had papers identifying himself, he was asked to report to the chief’s headquarters.
The headquarters were actually the house of my grandparents which the Japanese took over when they occupied the city. Learning about this, my grandmother, against everyone’s urgings, made the trip to the city and went to see the chief. She brought along some gold and silver nuggets just in case a payment had to be made. When the time came, she was made to wait in the living room of her own house, which she did patiently. After two hours, she went to the executive assistant who asked her what she wanted from the chief. She was led to the office where she saw her husband and the chief talking. It seems that the chief was also a lawyer and spoke fluent English. He was recalled from Hawaii where he was born and for the love of his country, he enlisted. It was a relief that she saw my grandfather safe and they went back together back to the forest to our makeshift home.
It is interesting how special sterling silver can be in certain cases.
Author Resource:
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