One woman’s life narrated through the medium of her ornaments. These seemingly trivial objects, ornaments, are shown to have particular significance as the physical manifestation of memory. The inanimate is imbued with an animated resonance.
2 A Pair of Pink Glass Candlesticks Thrust into my hands by my mother-in-law. I don’t think the pause before my thank-you was noticeable.
9 Dog My boy runs across the school playground, he bumps against my legs again and again. He is laughing. At last, he says he got the dog for telling the best joke in class. And now he’s laughing too hard to tell it to me, so I laugh too.
11 Painted Egg & China Flowers I’m in the vestry choosing which daffodils to use, when the Vicar comes in. He says he just wanted to say thank you, all the magnificent flower arranging, so dedicated, thank you, thank you. His words are charming. Somehow he arranges to be with me every week. It’s nice to have his company.
12 Vase from Betws-y-Coed The water in the Fairy Glen is so delicious that I jokingly splash a handful onto my husband as a honeymoon blessing. He shakes himself like a dog. I’m still not sure how we ended up with a twin bedded room. He swore they’d made a mistake with the booking. He buys me this vase when he sees how upset I am.
16 Porcelain Rose We sit close together, so close that I feel the warmth of his arm on mine, and his shiver as the doctor speaks. A scrumpled blue paper towel slides off the couch, a speck of food on the doctor’s jumper, the desk full of the computer the doctor stares at. My husband asks. There’s that shiver. A box of tissues appears in front of me. Words assemble themselves, “I’m so sorry.”
NIMMI NAIDOO taking the pulse of a place 