Precious Gems and Memories

Treasures amid the jumble of old jewelry, watches and broken necklaces poured out on the floor. The odd single earring or ones that need repair. The necklace that Kate crocheted for me. The parrot mobile tangled and faded - a gift from Fenna and Russ. The bead necklace that Adelaida Montemayor, a colleague, gave me in Texas - one strand broken and beads rolling on the carpet. A necklace that was mom’s - two in fact. A necklace made for ‘Gramma’ by Jonathan. So many family members and friends. Any of these could have been tossed away when they broke, or when I grew tired of them. But each holds a memory. A memory of kindness, of love and of laughter. They’ve all been hidden away in a lovely piece of blue pottery with a secure lid. Sitting on my dresser waiting for the next watch with a dead battery or bracelet from Egypt that lost it’s mates. Moved from home to home but always with a place on the dresser. An urn for jewelry once alive and full of sparkle saved for another day. Well, that other day came without warning. Just a poor grip as I was rearranging my things on my dresser top and the blue pottery fell. Not competely damaged but enough so it’s contents will no longer be in a safe place. So I’ve gathered them all on the table, sorted through them and am left with questions and possibilities. Which do I keep? Which do I fix or refashion? Which have lost their precious value of memory? Some never were very beautiful except for the hand that gave them as gifts. 

Found. The common thread that strings them all together. They each were gifts. Whether gifts from the living or a gift at the passing of a loved one. Not precious gems of diamonds, emeralds or rubies, but tangible baubles to hold and feel a misty connection. When the jewelry was worn and I felt the smooth bead or fashioned hand work on my skin it was as though a hug from afar was shared. Does this all sound too maudlin? Melodramatic? Is it time to let some of them go? I think so but I’m not sure when. I only know I don’t want any of them to be disrespected as trash or garbage. Will they ever have the same value to someone else? Of that I can’t be certain. What I do know is that if something is given with love it becomes the most precious of precious gems.

“A gift can never be cheap or insignificant 

because of the heart and love it carries.”

 Muni Khan