WHAT I TREASURE
My Uncle Bob gave me my first lucky piece. He considered himself a lucky man and liked the idea of sharing his luck. When, as children, we came rushing in with scraped elbows and knees, he would calm us down and clean us up. A serious injury earned us a lucky piece from his collection. This collection of foreign coins and odd medals was kept in a small leather saddlebag (right), which I still treasure.
I only had one lucky piece left from those years. Of course I didn’t understand luck then, or the true value of the pieces. That changed as I grew older. For years now, I’ve carried lucky pieces in the back of my black leather wallet. The first one my uncle gave me as a child was a copper replica of an old Roman coin. I carried it for more years than I care to mention.
Other lucky pieces have come my way, too. A small medal with a seashell on one side and ‘hope’ written on the other. Found in a time of need, it will be passed on at some stage. A friend gave me a small fertility goddess; on the back was written: “Your aspirations are your possibilities.” It sounds lucky to me. There is also a small wooden ladybird, given to me for luck by a Senegalese street trader, and an old English penny found on the pavement one wet, windy day. I don’t know what made me look down in my rush to get out of the rain, but I did, and there it was, luck to be found.
There has been a new addition of late. On holiday in Sicily, I was struggling with an incomprehensible map. A passer-by stopped to assist me. He then decided he had time, before his bus, to show me the city of his youth, Catania. We roamed the streets as he pointed out architecture, monuments, fountains, gardens, favourite coffee bars. We finished at the cathedral in the main square, near his bus stop. He insisted on buying me a medal of St Agatha, the patron saint of Catania. Wanting to give something in return, I pulled out the replica Roman coin – it seemed a perfect exchange.
I don’t know what made the pieces lucky for my uncle, he must have felt that he had lots of luck. I inherited the small leather saddlebag and have been dispensing lucky pieces, in his name, to the next generation of nieces and nephews for a while now. Are the pieces lucky? I don’t know. Their value for me is in their provenance. There is also something special about sharing luck, so the pieces, like luck, come and go.
What means a lot to you? Tell us in 500 words; thesimplethings@icebergpress.co.uk