For years I wore this medallion on a chain around my neck. My father owned a Mobil gas station and the Mobil Oil Company awarded it to him "for outstanding performance winter lubricants contest - 1933." Soon after, he went broke from extending credit to customers who never paid. He moved us to Gary, Indiana, where he went to work in a steel mill, which proved to be his undoing. He died in July 1937 after being crushed by a ton of steel.
I was not quite two when he died and I have no memory of him, just a photograph, a pair of cuff links, four beer mugs, and this medallion. I grew up feeling cheated of his love and protection. Somehow, this medallion seemed imbued with his spirit, so I wore it as an amulet. It protected me, I felt, as he would have had he lived.
2 comments:
Oh, Mama! I remember this medallion, and I too, believed his spirit was in it for you! After our talk about the importance of supportive daddies in daughters' lives, this makes me feel sad. After I met your father's brother, I realized your eyes looked like your uncle's eyes. I often look at you and think I see your father looking back at me!
I think of you as a survivor, Mama!
Shirley,
What a sad story! I sympathize. My father died when I was 15. I, too, missed having a protector but it did make me a strong woman. Linda
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