A quirk of mine is that I always wear a necklace. Always. Necklaces are objects which I have been given or collected which remind me of the person, place, or of the stage in life in which I received them. However, there is one necklace which I have had so long I don’t even remember when I first received it. This necklace is a small golden heart locket with two little hearts carved on front. I wore this necklace in my young childhood. I wore it as I played dress up, climbed trees, roller bladed round the neighborhood, and went to elementary school. I remember other girls at school wearing lockets as well. I remember these girls showing off a picture of their pet dog or a family member which they kept inside their locket. However, there was nothing in my locket, it remained empty. As I grew older I began wearing new necklaces I received and I began to stop wearing the locket. Eventually, the locket came to be put in a box with other trinkets from when I was really young and I forgot about it.
Years later I was hanging out with my sister in her room as she was packing to leave for her first year in college. I was rather somber as I watched my older sister, my friend, my role model, who I had known and been with for my whole life, pack to leave. As she packed and we talked lightly, I was casually looking through the necklaces lying on her dresser when a small gold heart locket caught my eye. It was exactly like one I had known and worn from years before but.... I quickly went and dug out from under my bed a dusty pink shoe box which I knew was full of little trinkets from my young childhood. I rummaged through it and pulled out, to my surprise, a locket exactly like the one now sitting on my sister’s dresser. It also turned out that her locket was empty just like mine. And so, as a farewell to each other before she left home, we each wrote a note to each other and put it in the other’s locket.
Each time I wear the locket I am reminded of my young childhood but I am reminded more of my sister, who was the friend at my side throughout my childhood and, of course, still my friend today. When I wear this necklace I think of her and all the times we have spent together. I remember all the times we played dress up with our mother’s old clothes, high heels, and big 80’s sunglasses. I recall the times when we were explorers searching for buried treasure which the other had hid in the backyard. The adventures we had running from lava monsters. Going to dance class together. Playing in orchestra together. Swapping clothes. Our fights. The late nights when secrets were confided. And countless times of laughter. I remember my sister who was always there for me and who has always been there for me and still is. I remember the words she wrote to me and which hang round my neck, “There is no better friend than a sister.”
Artist Statement
When looking for an artifact to choose for this essay I didn’t know what to choose. However, while I was reading Busch’s “The Uncommon Life of Common Objects” I was reminded of how the necklaces I wear have backstories of my past which others don’t know. I therefore decided I would do my essay on a necklace but which one? While in class the film Citizen Kane in which an object in the film reminded the main character of his childhood. This discussion led me to think about which necklace reminded me most of my childhood and that was the my locket.
I didn’t want to introduce that the locket reminded me of my sister until I was at the point of explaining the note inside the locket. Therefore, I decided to first introduce the locket and how it had remained empty for many years. I hoped that by emphasizing that the locket had remained empty that it would highlight the importance of something actually being put inside.
Also, I decided to first show how the locket reminded me of my childhood then how it reminded me of my sister to make the statement that life is not just about what we do but who we do it with. The necklace came to have greater significance when it came to symbolize not just my childhood but someone I had spent my childhood with.
Lastly, I knew I wanted to end and conclude with an excerpt from the note she wrote me. That excerpt perfectly states one of the themes of my essay which there really is no better friend than a sister, than family.
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