A Final Note on the Passing Down of Jewelry

Jewelry remains an important method of connecting the nearly lost past with the present. Although somewhat unassuming and commonplace, it proves to be an incredibly important archival material. Particularly in piecing together an accurat

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For Sara Anderson, it meant the ability to reconnect with the beloved inspiration for her life, her great-grandmother, who instilled her with faith and family ties. 

For Diana Dagavarian Colpitts, it allowed her to consider her grandfather, an enigmatic yet omnipresent figure in her family and throughout her life, on a closer, personal level. 

For Mari Firkatian, it serves as a constant reminder of the woman who raised her in Bulgaria, her grandmother, who enriched her life with meaning, purpose, and pride.

For Lisa Natcharian, it allowed her to connect to the young woman her grandmother used to be pre-genocide: engaged, happy, prosperous, beloved, and with her whole life ahead of her. 

For Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh, whose grandmother passed when she was a baby, it allowed her to connect in a closer way to a woman she revered her whole life for resilience and strength. 

For all alike, it serves as an important reminder about the individual person behind the jewelry: the survivor, the preserver of the past, and the enjoyer of celebration and beauty in thriving times, free from violence.

Centering personhood is pertinent to fighting against the oppression and erasure perpetuated by attempted genocide.