Joseph's Cross Pendant

I just finished uploading the design Joseph's Cross to the website. I think the pendant turned out superb! Each one is handmade in the same fashion as the one above, but since each is handmade, each will vary slightly from the next...making each piece more special and unique to the owner, in my opinion.

This was a very special design to make. My friend Joe and I had talked about cross pendant designs about a year ago. That was on a good day.

On most days, he was depressed, and drinking. I recall one distinct coversation at the patio table on one of those depressed days. He was crying...telling me he had no reason left to live...he had no HOPE. His marriage was destroyed and he thought it was all his fault. His family, lost, gone, never to be the same again. All because of the mistakes of two people. Two boys being put in the position of a very bitter, angry divorce. Everything had changed, and he thought his life was over - there was no hope for anything...so he proceeded on the path to destroy himself.

At that moment in time, I told him, "Of course there is hope, and of course you have a reason to live." I then asked him, "Where has your FAITH gone, Joe?" He shook his head as the tears rolled down his cheeks and he looked down at the ground.

It started to rain - not hard - but a light, misty rain. There was a little thunder off in the distance.

"Don't you realize what a wonderful person you are? The beauty you have inside your soul?" I asked him. "Don't you realize what you have to offer this world?"

He looked at me with eyes full of deep blue pools of pain. The anguish spilled out of him in the form of violent sobs, and he stood up and stepped away from the table, turning his back. Stepping over to the top of the hill not more than three feet away, Joe held up his hands toward the heavens, and cried "WHY? WHY? WHY?"

I sat in silence, allowing him to express the pain and sorrow. I felt it too, the pain, the sorrow, the breaking heart and total powerlessness.

It was then a lightening bolt sprang from the sky, barreling toward the center of the yard we both overlooked. I jumped up from my chair, and Joe stepped back sharply. We watched as a tail of white fire stopped about six feet above ground level. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end...I could FEEL the electricity! As fast as it came, it disappeared, leaving behind a gray storm cloud, impending heavy rain, a loud clap of thunder and two silent souls.

Joe turned toward me, his mouth open in shock, and he pointed to where the bolt had almost landed. "THAT," he said, his breath shallow, "That was a sign."

He turned again, facing away from me once more. The rain began to pummel from the sky, drenching both of us. I couldn't move. He was right, it was a sign.

As if to prove me right, the clouds suddenly shifted, drawing my gaze upward. And nature began to reveal the most beautiful rainbow I'd ever seen - the only one I'd ever seen the entire time I've lived on Riverside Drive. Joe saw it too, and I ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and told him to come with me.

We ran to the front yard, where we could see the rainbow better. Blue, yellow, green, red, orange, pink, and purple all cascaded across the sky in a stunning arch. And as we stood beside each other in the pouring rain, enjoying the beautiful colors painted so gracefully across the sky, I said to him, "Now, tell me you have no hope. Look at what we've just witnessed, and tell me you don't believe there is more for you in this world. Tell me you give up..."

He turned to me, eyes clear and shining, hair, clothes, and skin dripping wet. "Maybe I do have hope," he mumbled, and he nodded his head. I smiled as he reached for me. The hug we shared was tight, firm, hopeful, and full of the faith I knew we both had within.

"Keep the faith," I whispered in his ear. "Keep the faith."

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was from that memory this cross pendant was designed. The black base represents the darkness, the opal center the rainbow. The red in the center is representative of the heart, and the aurora crystal is the faith which burns inside. Keep the faith.

P.S. Joe came by a few days ago...it was SO GOOD to see him again! He's sober 78 days (I guess 81 days now). It's amazing to see how he's getting hope back...that is so wonderful to see after the past year and a half of dark days he's had. AA is really helping him.

It was funny - he was telling me how this is truly the best program to deal with substance abuse, and how much he believes this is what he needs. Almost a year ago, I found out where the AA meetings were here in town, and I took him to a meeting. At that point in his life, he thought it was a bunch of baloney that he didn't need...he could deal with this on his own. So he didn't go back. And now it's 'the best program'....:) I guess he just wasn't ready then. But I knew he would be someday - I had faith he would.