j is for jewelry

Perhaps jewelry has always inspired me. If I think really hard, I believe I can trace this love all the way back to its origin... As a little girl, I would sit wide-eyed in front of my mom's jewelry box, pulling out the long strings of beads, trying on sparkly brooches and stick pins. It was a treasure box with this unique, yet familiar, smell. If I were to uncover it even now, the scent would take me back to the age of 7 or 8, when Mandi and I loved nothing more than searching through the endless bracelets and necklaces.

I doubt that I thought this as a child, but now, as I sit here, I can’t help imagining where those pieces of jewelry went with my mom. Which bracelet accompanied her on her very first date? Which necklace hung around her neck on the day she graduated college? Which pieces were with her most often? And, were any of them passed down from generations past? Perhaps she recalls some of these answers. Maybe others have been lost to the winds of time, victims of imperfect memories and busied minds that are forced to hold onto the more pressing details of life.

In any case, my love of jewelry took root there...during those moments, those afternoons of exploring the treasures within her white leather box. Then, all throughout elementary school, my sister and I made bracelets...brightly colored bangles of beads strung on white elastic or knotted friendship bracelets that were crafted from embroidery floss. High school brought an obsession with beads and left me with more jewelry-making supplies than one girl could possibly need.

When Mandi started her current job of product photographer for a vintage jewelry business, earrings and necklaces became everyday topics of conversation once again. And, interestingly enough, the love of jewelry returned us to the spot where it all began. The old jewelry box was dusted off, and now it’s not uncommon to see one of mom’s old bracelets dangling sweetly on Mandi’s wrist.