One of my favorite pass times as a little girl, was to go through my mothers jewelry box.
I would pretend I was a princess, and a wonderful feeling would come over me as I would try on all my “treasures”. Even today, when I open my own jewelry box, I get a knot in my stomach as the memories and smells of my childhood come rushing back to me. It is amazing, just how many of my childhood memories are connected with that jewelry box.
My mother would halfheartedly scold me, but allowed my games to go on just as long as I never touched “her favorite necklace”. It was a treasured anniversary gift from my father, and since my mother valued it above all her other jewelry, so did I. I’ll never forget how she cried when in my quest for the forbidden fruit I secretly took that necklace and accidentally tore it. I still remember the feeling of cold horror that came over me as the beads were rolling down on the floor. Luckily my father with his gold hands has managed to restring it, and today we all laugh about it at family dinners.
I still remember every piece of jewelry that was in that box. My great grandmother’s amber necklace that seemed magical to me; The pearl necklace my mother received on her high school graduation; A beautiful silver pendant with an image of the queen of spades on the front and a monogrammed “lot’s of happiness” on the back which my mother’s best friend gave her on her wedding day.
My mother and I would spend hours talking about each jewelry piece, as I urged her to tell me again and again about the stories behind each one. These were not just jewelry pieces. Each was a treasured window to the past, like a vintage family photograph from the times when only a handful of them was ever taken. The memories they represent are as alive in my mind today, as if they were my own.
Usually as we grow up, we get disenchanted with our childhood treasures. Those pieces of rock and green glass we used to cherish just don’t seem that valuable anymore. It is very rare for a childhood treasure to grow in value as you grow older. My mother’s jewelry box is as much a treasure to me now as it ever was. My mother and I still look through it together, just as I hope to look through my own jewelry box with my own daughter one day.
So cherish your jewelry keepsakes, add to them, share them with your loved ones, and may the memories they carry live long after you have passed.
If you don’t have any heirloom jewelry, there is no time like the present. Ask your loved ones to give you jewelry gifts for special occasions, and do the same for them. In a few years you will have your own jewelry legacy, that will help strengthen family bonds and preserve memories in a beautiful and meaningful way.
