The prompt for this piece was Vintage and we had just 100 words in which to capture its essence. Although I no longer have the brooch that is the subject of this short piece, (it was stolen in a house robbery a few years ago) I loved the only item that I had managed to keep of my Gran’s.
The vintage brooch belonged to my grandmother. It was a cameo of a woman with long, curly hair, carved from shell, set in rose gold. Gran wore it on the collar of her best black wool coat.
I can’t remember her wearing any other trinket, except the plain, gold wedding band that she kept on, despite having thrown her husband out when my mother and her sister were still small. It was after the war when if you were lucky enough to find a husband, you kept him, whatever he had done. She lived with the shame her whole life.
Born and bred in Manchester UK with a degree in French from the University of Exeter, I found myself in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 via Spain, France and Greece. And London.
I have worked in the hospitality industry in marketing, as a radio and tv producer, in PR and communications for South Africa's buy local advocacy campaign and since June 2022 have been running my own content creation and PR company, Use Lorem Ipsum.
I have always been a reader and writer of stories and am relieved finally to have achieved the publication of this blog. Now for that novel.
I am the mother of 2 sons, middle of 3 sisters, owner of a dog and the ex wife and ex girlfriend of a number of men who clearly didn't deserve me.
I am an eternal optimist for myself, my country and the planet, so don't let me down, world.
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