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January 17, 2007
The Necklace
Many, many years ago, like 13, somebody loved me and bestowed upon me an extraordinary necklace.
I truly loved the necklace as it was both beautiful and thoughtful in regard to how much it so exactly reflected my style and taste. I wore it for years and years and years on an almost daily basis, never going an entire week without wearing it at least once. One day it broke, but I immediately took it to have it repaired and had it back in its familiar place around my neck in no time.
It really became a part of me, although that wasn't something I had realized at the time.
Then after many years, the one who loved me and gave me this extraordinary necklace went away --- but the necklace stayed with me.
And I still wore it almost every day for years and years and years. At times I would look at the necklace and think long and hard about when I got it and who gave it to me and how nice of a gift it was. Sometimes I would even be a little amazed about the fact that I still loved it so much. I'd also think about how special it was to have someone give me such a great gift that meant so much to me for so many years.
It was still very much a part of me but I had still not yet realized it.
Then yesterday, it broke again. And for some reason this time I finally acknowledged how much the necklace has become a part of me.
It was one of those odd things that you don't even realize has happened - I was just sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I felt the beads sliding down inside my shirt. No sudden trauma to the necklace, nothing, it was just spontaneously broken for no apparent reason. The bulk of the necklace was still intact and I gathered it into a pile and set it on my desk. For the rest of the day I kept finding little coppery pearly beads all over the house in odd places. I'm still perplexed by how they ended up all over the place. Every time I look at the remains of the necklace, a new random memory pops up. They are those very vivid 'mental snapshot' kinds of memories; I'll just see an entire actual scene from my past and somewhere in it, I am there wearing the necklace.
For some strange reason I have this feeling that I am not supposed to fix the necklace this time.
I know I'm really going to miss it. I already do.
Like a piece of myself.
Pearls of "wisdom" by Jamie at January 17, 2007 07:33 PM
Comments
i've also had endings with jewelry. one was a friendship bracelet someone gave me in 1991 or so. it stayed on my ankle until probably 2003. it didn't remind me so much of the friendship (as it was), but of the situation. it would force me to consider friends and friendship, the way i treat others, the way others think of me, etc. of course, the deal with frienship bracelets was you were supposed to wear them until they fell off.
the second was a leather wristband bought during the same timeframe (1991), but i hadn't worn it in years. after my wife had the affair, i put it on as a reminder to myself of my situation, vowing to take it off only after i really felt i had processed things and could fairly deal with the world of relationships. it actually broke on its own, about a year after i put it on. i'm sure i blogged about this one, but it must have been written before my server crashed, so it's one of many posts i lost about that time of my life.
i've probably had some others, but those are the two i recall the most vividly.
Posted by: TeRRY at January 19, 2007 05:44 PM