For over a decade, Padma Lakshmi has worn a Tiffany gold necklace with a medallion of St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, around her neck. She rarely takes it off.
Traveling is part of the job for Ms. Lakshmi, the Emmy-nominated television host, executive producer of the culinary shows “Top Chef” and “Taste the Nation,” and editor of The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024 anthology. Yet the man who gave her the protective medallion — her late partner who died of brain cancer — was scared to travel.
“He was just so different from me,” she said. “Sort of this tweedy guy who grew up in Connecticut, who went to church every Sunday, and me, kind of, like, bleeding-heart liberal immigrant.” Yet opposites famously attract. “They were four extraordinary years,” she said, “and they came at a very pivotal time in both our lives.”
Ms. Lakshmi reflected on the relationship and the necklace, which dangles just above her heart, that reminds her of their connection. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Tell me about your necklace.
So this is a simple gold necklace, a very thin chain with a round gold medallion that is a St. Christopher medal. And I got it from an old lover of mine who passed away. He gave it to me as a Christmas present. He was very scared of traveling. I never take it off. I mean, I will take it off if I’m on a red carpet and I’m wearing something that clashes with it. I’m not precious about it, but I am very superstitious to travel without it.
How long were you two together?
We were together on and off for four years, four and a half years. And he was diagnosed in March 2011 and passed away by November. It was very aggressive glioblastoma brain cancer. And I’ve worn it ever since. And it just means so much to me. I’m not Catholic; I’m Hindu. I’m pretty secular. But he was somebody who went to church every Sunday up at St. Ignatius on the Upper East Side. And sometimes I would go with him on Sunday evenings, and then we’d have dinner after with his boys. And I feel when I have this, that I always have a piece of him with me.
Can you describe what it feels like to wear it?
I do feel him physically around me just having this and touching it. It’s almost my way of calling to him. When I think about him unconsciously, sometimes I’ll just play with it. And sometimes it’s because my hair gets caught on the clasp or something. Sometimes it’ll just fall off spontaneously in the bed or somewhere in the house. And thank God, it’s been 13 years now since I got it, and I never lost it.
Do you think you’ll ever pass it down to your daughter?
Most of my jewelry will go to her. He gave me some beautiful pieces of jewelry, but she has her own, and it’s oval, and I’ve shown it to her, but I purposely keep it in the safe because I don’t want her to lose it.
With this piece, it sounds like it’s about the memories, your connection to him.
Those first three years after he died, I didn’t date. I didn’t do much. I would just get all of my things done for work, and it was good to have work. And then I would come home and I found great solace in actually thinking about him. And I would just wrap my grief like a shawl, like a cloak around my shoulders. And I was comforted by his memory. And I don’t think grief is a bad thing. I think it’s an important thing for us spiritually, no matter what religion you are or subscribe to. I think grief is just love with nowhere to go.
And I am glad that I experienced that grief. My grief, I realized, was commensurate to the love that we had between us. My only regret is that I didn’t have longer to show him how much I appreciated him, because we always had this kind of push-and-pull relationship where he was ready, and I kind of was like, “I don’t know, let’s see.” And so for me, feeling his presence and living with him, it is a good thing. He still teaches me something. Time has given me a new appreciation for this astonishing, generous human being that was in my life.
The post Padma Lakshmi’s St. Christopher Necklace appeared first on New York Times.
