Talisman

I have three “lucky pieces” that have served me throughout my life. I have an old Gumby bendy toy that sat every test in veterinary school with me. I have a bag of polished worry-stones that was given to me by my first boyfriend when I was fifteen. And I have the silver unicorn pendant.

I found a horse pendant in an oriental gift shop when I was seventeen or eighteen, and wistfully told the shopkeeper that I wished it were a unicorn instead. The shopkeeper arranged to have a silver horn added to it, and held it aside until the next time I came in. I wore it throughout my undergraduate days in college, and for a long time as a young adult.

This was just prior to that unfortunate period when unicorn paraphernalia was “cool”. Shortly after I got the pendent, my family and friends assumed I was into collecting unicorns. I became the bemused owner of stuffed unicorns, other pieces of unicorn jewelry, books about unicorns, unicorn figurines, unicorn etchings … you get the general idea. I have a few other unicorn pieces I treasure, like Cybis’ Gambol and Frolic piece, but most of the other unicorn trinkets held little meaning to me beyond the fact that people I cared for had given them to me.

The unicorn pendant saw me through my college days, and through my paralegal training and my first job as a paralegal. There was a period of time that I wore this pendant every day. It was as close as I’ve ever gotten to superstition; I just felt better about the day if I was wearing the pendant. I haven’t worn it in years now, but I still take it out and polish it every so often. I’ve been thinking that it’s a shame it spends all its time in my jewelry box. It’s no longer something I wear even rarely. I should find some way to pass the “luck” on.

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