Dear Reader:

I wish I knew why I can’t keep a charm bracelet “growing” by adding more charms or for that information…why I can’t stop losing charm bracelets from the past.

I got one for high school graduation, one for college graduation, and then the Ya’s  thought we should have a charm bracelet to remember all our times together-a wonderful idea….a charm a year to remember time spent in that year together. Really nice thought. I think Libby hung in there the longest with charm presents….but to no avail, alas. I don’t know where mine is…..along with the earlier two ‘disappearing acts.’ (Ya’s, if you have yours (besides making me feel even lousier)….would you identify the charms on them?)

Pandora has tried to bring charm bracelets back with lots of advertising and storytelling around the significance of the different charms…but I think they even are having a tough go of it. Why? It takes perseverance, some thought, a good jeweler, annual cleaning to keep them looking sparkling clean, not a ‘pewter gray” lackluster color.

I think it falls in the category of polishing silverware….the practice is becoming obscure.

Yet, as a child, I remember being fascinated by one aunt who lived in Washington, D.C. and came to visit every year or two. She would be dressed to the hilt and always wore a charm bracelet that “shook, rattled, and rolled.” I could hardly wait for mother to excuse herself to get dessert or whatever she was serving and leave me alone with Aunt Grace.

I would start asking her about each of her charms and she would ply me with tales of romance, wars, different jobs, hobbies, travels, etc. I was spell-bound! Her charm bracelet, not only told me more about this elusive aunt I saw so seldom, but also about who she really was…her life story on a wrist with jangling tokens of her favorite and most challenging life  experiences.

In a little short, short story written in the magazine Coastal Living by Wade Rouse.…he remembered  his favorite grandmother who lived in Florida with whom he got to spend time with each summer. They spent it in the surf, kite-flying and ice cream cone eating. He, too, loved the sound of her charms jangling from her bracelet.

He had the charms memorized after a few summers. There was a:baby boy charm representing her only child who died at birth, a sewing machine to represent her life as a seamstress, a dragonfly that brought good fortune in life, a puzzle piece for a life that required friendship to complete her, a loon charm for a love that always calls you home, a kite charm to remind her to always fly high with the happiness of a child, and an ice cream cone to represent life’s sweetness, even when it isn’t always that way.

The author of the story left his grandmother to become a writer but would always make time to visit her if he was in Florida and tell her about his latest adventures. One day he heard his grandmother was gravely ill, so he flew in on Mother’s Day bringing her two gifts, two charms to add to her bracelet. A flip-flop charm for the role reversal they now played , and a beach bucket for the summers spent walking the beaches together.

After her death he received a package from her estate. It was the bracelet….but in a larger sense it was her again, her stories, and love that would last even longer than the jangling bracelet….The simplest things in life are the greatest gifts.  

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So until tomorrow…dangling, jangling charm bracelet or not….I know I am living a charmed life and have only God to thank for it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

 * Back to school is getting closer and closer….Eva Cate has to wait another week (next Thursday) before she finds out who her teacher is and she is beside herself with anticipation!. But Libby’s two beautiful granddaughters (Hailey and Rebecca) got to register yesterday and they appear quite happy….they are both in a new school this year since they moved a few months ago. Exciting times!

*This sign was just too funny not to include.

I stopped by Mandy’s yesterday to drop off some school supplies and then we did a little shopping….just the girls…Mandy, Eva Cate, and me. After we picked up Jakie from pre-school we headed home. The skies were so ominously dark I decided to wait a little longer to head back to Summerville.

*Am glad it worked out that way because I got to see Jake the Jock play basketball. He takes it as seriously as any professional player (loves the slam dunk) and Eva Cate tries out new dance steps, including the Charleston. (Besides getting to eat John’s delicious chicken soup!)