It was springtime. The child and the grandmother lay in the bed in the guestroom of the old white house on 34th Street. They had been in the yard all morning, and it was time for a nap. Summer was nearing and the low buzz of the bees would soon be replaced with the hum of mosquitoes. It was getting hotter and the blistering Texas summer would soon be upon them. They lay on the bed talking with each other, listening to the ticking of the old clock on the wall, the warm breeze of the fan upon them. They finished a game of "Simon Says," and the child felt warm and comfortable next to her grandmother as they spoke of the grandmother's childhood, and all the happy times she remembered. As the child grew to be a woman, she came to understand that the times had really not been that happy, and that it was the grandmother's way of dealing with her past. The great‑grandmother whom the child had never known had passed when the grandmother was merely nine years old, and the great-grandfather deserted the grandmother, forcing her to live with families she did not know, acting as a housekeeper and babysitter.
"Mamaw, what was it like when you were a little girl?"
"Well, I had to work reeeeally hard from the time I was 12 years old. I had to warsh the clothes on a scrub board and then hang them to dry. It took all day and I was so tired. My back would be killing me when I was done. Then I would run from the creek back to the house with the clothes when I was finished. I used to run everywhere. Once when I was coming back from warshing the clothes, a plane flew overhead. I'd never seen one or heard of one before, and I dropped the clean clothes all over the ground as I ran away screamin'. I hid in the barn because I thought the world was comin' to an end.
On Sundays I used to play the piano at church, and I would sing reeeeally loud. I had a beautiful voice. Everyone liked to hear me sing"
"Tell me about the time you met Papaw."
"Well, he had been married once before and his wife died and left him with a boy. My daddy didn't like Papaw. He thought Papaw and his brothers were trouble. But, I thought he was reeeeally good-lookin' and I used to sit on my porch in the afternoons when he was comin' home from work. He didn't have to pass by my house, but he took the long way so's he could look at me -- I could always tell that was what he was doin’."
"Mamaw where did you get that ring?"
"I got that at Gordon’s Jewelers. Do you like it?"
"I love it. What is that green thing in there."
"It's jade, and it's set in 14 carat gold. I paid a lot of money for it, Papaw got really mad at me, but I had to have it. Do you like this ring, baby? Would you like to have it?"
"Yes, but you don't want to give it away now, do you?"
"Baby, I don't know what will happen when I get old. I've seen a lot of families go crazy and take things that weren't meant for them after somebody in the family has died. No, I want you to have this, otherwise, your Aunt will take it. You take it now and then you'll have something from me and I won't have to worry about that."
"I'll keep it always and take real good care of it."
The child took comfort and warmth from the grandmother's stories, and felt the grandmother's love all around her. She knew even at this young age that she would never forget this moment. As the child grew into a woman, she wore the jade ring in the gold setting for many years, and then put it away so it wouldn't get lost. When the grandmother's health worsened in her old age, and the wrong choices got her into trouble many years later, the woman took it out and wore it every day. The grandmother could no longer reason or communicate, and the woman sent a silent message through the ring to the grandmother ... I'm here, I remember.