“Good memories are like charms. Each is special. You collect them, one by one, until one day you look back and discover they make a long, colorful bracelet.” James Patterson, Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas

I came across my old sterling silver charm bracelet recently. My mother had given it to me on my fourteenth birthday along with a charm that read, “Darling 14”. Over the next few years charms were added. Charms from states I visited on summer vacations with my family. Friends gifted me with charms each birthday. A charm from a local jewelry store that was blue and white, our school colors, in the shape of a pennant that said, “Buna High”. Some of the charms I had purchased, like a commemorative charm in Kansas City, Missouri, when I was selected to attend a National Convention for Future Homemakers of America with my high school home economics teacher, Mrs. Jean Jordan.

But only my mother added the birthday charm each year. “Darling 14”. “Just 15”. “Sweet 16.” She loved keepsake items. Mementos. And I do, too. Somehow though, when I finished high school, the charm bracelet went into the jewelry box on my dresser and the lid was closed. The world was calling, and I had to run to meet it.

I have another charm bracelet now and its’s sterling silver, too. A beautiful keepsake. By the time this one was given to me, I chose some of my own charms and my children purchased some. I love it so much, but it’s from a different time and place entirely.

Not long ago, I took the older charm bracelet to a jeweler and had it cleaned and polished. It is a story of me from a simpler time. A remembrance of each place I visited and each person that presented me with a special gift. I’ve found such joy in studying the bracelet, imagining my mother choosing it for that special birthday when she thought I was responsible enough to value it.

I believe she knew I did not abandon it forever. She was one who enjoyed going through her cedar chest, showing us pictures and memorabilia from her earlier years. The things she kept when she moved on to marriage and motherhood. The things we leisurely savor when life slows down a bit.

And now I view the story of a portion of my past and enjoy it immensely. The bracelet jingles on my wrist just the same as it did years ago. Some days maybe even more.

Do you have a bracelet full of memories?