When we moved into our home in early 2010, the house was mostly empty. The woman, Jane, that had lived here alone through her ripe age of 90 had to purge decades worth of memories and objects from her family that she outlived.
Empty, that is, except an old television on a cart, a couple of older appliances, and a gold-plated Shamrock.
Well, the gold-plated Shamrock wasn’t golden anymore… it had been rubbed off through decades of fingers touching it. Traces of gold remain between the shamrock leaf creases, and inside the letters stamped on the back.
What’s it say on the back?
One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith, and one is for love, you know. And God put another in for Luck. 24Karat Gold Plated.
Jane cleaned out the house purposefully. But she left the Shamrock for us. She knew that it went with the house.
You see Jane and her husband Stew built the first floor of our home in 1953, and the second floor of our home in 1963. They lived here for all of their adult lives. She cared for her mother Grandma White n the upstairs suite which is now our ginormous bedroom, and she cared for her son that suffered from a childhood disease. Neighbors that I talk to, that knew her for FIFTY years, say how wonderful she was, like a sister.
But, I also heard that she was a worrier. About anything and everything.
This was Jane’s house, and I guess she felt she needed luck in life to zap out the worry?
In 2008 she was giving it up to be with what family she had left in Las Vegas. I’d imagine it was hard to leave.
But she left a part of herself.
To her she left her luck.
To me, she left her hopes, her fears, her decades of life and her well wishes in the worn off gold of this shamrock.
This metal clover trinket ties me to the house. It ties me to the past, and it ties me to history.
With this clover in my possession, it’s not just Jane’s house. It’s my house. Not because I have the mortgage, but maybe because I have the shamrock.
The metal now hangs over our office door.
Faith, Hope and Love are critical. But who can’t use a little luck? Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
