NPR’s 3 Million Sunday Listeners Learn About a Sentimental Jewelry Gift That ‘Knocked It Out of the Park'

A young Ohio woman shared her story about a very sentimental piece of jewelry with the three million listeners of NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. In response to the question, “What’s the best holiday gift you have ever received?” Stephanie Soduk of Canton told Sunday host Rachel Martin's radio audience about a special present from her dad that spanned multiple generations.

In her intro, Martin explained that while most holiday gifts are lovely, they’re usually treasured for a while and then relegated to a shelf in the basement. Martin wanted to know more about those rare gifts that "just knocked it out of the park."

Soduk, who is a development executive for a healthcare provider, offered up her story of a gift that actually started out as a pair of diamond earrings that her mom got as a gift from her dad. Soduk’s mom, a tasteful, classy lady, who always liked to look her best, loved the earrings and wore them everywhere, according to her daughter.

But, when Stephanie was only 16 years old, her mother died of breast cancer and the beloved earrings were put into storage.

Five years later, Soduk was celebrating Christmas with her family, and under the tree were two small gift boxes from her dad. One was for her and the other was for her sister, Marianne.

“We opened them [to find] a matching pair of [diamond] necklaces made out of [Mom's] earrings,” she said.

Soduk wears her diamond necklace just about everywhere. She and her sister cherish their necklaces, just like their mom cherished her earrings.

“I'm wearing it right now, actually,” she said. “And it's really neat to me that when somebody compliments it or asks about it, I can tell them a story. And that shares a piece of me. And it's really special.”