Treasures

So a few days ago, I stopped at my grandmother's house to pick something up. She stopped me before I left and told me she had something for me and to close my eyes. I did as I was asked, and a moment later felt her tugging on my shirt.

"Uh, grandma? What are you doing?"

"Just a minute. Just wait one second. I'm doing a little something here." (Pause and cessation of shirt tugging) "Okay. Open your eyes."

I looked down, and saw a simple and pretty pin hanging from my shirt. 

And I started to cry. In the pendant hanging in the center was a picture of me when I was one with my mother. Grandma said mom had had two made...one for my mother and one for her (my grandmother). She found it when she was going through some things the other day, and thought I should I have it.

When I got home, I went straight to my box to put it in. 

This is my box. 

My sister brought it back from Poland for me. And really without even thinking about it or planning it, its where I started to keep things that are pretty special to me. 

When I put the pin away, I started sifting through the other things that were in there. As I did, a quote I heard the other day seemed to get trapped in my ears as each piece passed through my hands, moments filled my mind and the memories flooded my heart.

"Tell me who you love, And I will tell you who you are."- Houssaye

And I realized something. The reason I "treasured" each of these things had nothing to do with what they were necessarily, but who they were associated with, the experiences they remind me of, the moments that changed who I was. 

They represent my life. 

They tell the story of who I am.

This is a bracelet I had made for some of my students one year. It has that adorable little grand piano charm on it. I taught in Maria Stein for 13 years and during that time had about 80 students. About 20 of them I had for 10 years of more. I still have relationships with several of them. Having them as part of my life changed who I was, and I am forever grateful for that opportunity.

Okay, I know this is a little rubber duck. I’m aware that it’s not jewelry. But it came from my friend Wendy where I worked at United Way of Wood County. Her and I started working together on getting our information sorted out by county…about getting our “ducks in a row”. From then on, we would snap or find random duck pictures online and send them to each other. Right before she left her position, she gave me this duck. It’s been with me ever since.

These two bracelets are from my sister Melanie. The one on the left is one she gave to me…I think for Christmas. The one on the right she brought me from New York as a thanks for watching her kids while her and Kirk went.

My lovely friend Madhushri Dongre made this for me before I moved from Perrysburg. She’s from India. And besides making me this, she would often make me wonderful Indian food. I have some of her recipes.

This is my name tag from the daycare I worked at when we lived in Las Vegas. I was working there when Paul was born.

This pendant is a gift from my Grandma and Grandpa Downs from Russia.

Dave’s missionary tag.  I want Conner to remember where he’s headed . Someday, he’ll be Elder Cameron as well.

Melanie brought me this egg from Poland. That’s right, my sister went to Poland and I got a box and an egg.  But I think they’re pretty special.

This is David’s wedding ring and his temple handkerchief. I think I would like for Maryn to have the ring to give to her husband someday.

This bracelet was designed and made by my friend Katie Weston. It actually represents hope in the face of Domestic Violence. The color for DV is purple.  As a DV survivor, it helps me remember and keeps my hopes focused forward.

This is my “class ring”. My parents thought it would be more practical to buy a pretty ring engraved with the initials of our school and the year we graduated as opposed to a school purchased class ring I probably would never wear again after I got married. I really love it.

This bracelet is from one my students who also happened to become a friend. Her name is Lucy, and she gave it to me as a gift one year. She always gave wonderful Christmas gifts to me. She took lessons from me for 7 years. I was always very grateful for her friendship.

This little wooden butter knife is from Sweden. My grandmother brought it back from her little genealogy adventure there.  She was in search of long lost family.

These are Conner's baby tags. Not that I don’t love my other children. I may have just lost them. Does this make me a bad mother?

My aunt Lisa invited me, Melanie, Tamra, Mom and some of her friends to join her at the Jersey Shore for the weekend. Conclusion…I love the Atlantic Ocean. It was one of the most amazing and relaxing weekends I have ever had.  One of her cute friends made little bottles with these handmade tags on them. I still have the bottle…Its filled with sand from the beach, rocks, shells and driftwood. But the tag is in my treasure box.

A rock. A stick. A penny. It hardly seems significant out of context. But I’ve had these since the summer I graduated and was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. The rock and stick are from the Sacred Grove. And they gave each of us a penny with the year (1993) on it. They have been in that box for nearly 20 years, and every time I look at them, I remember how I felt when I was there.

This necklace was a gift from an unknown beneficiary from our ward last year. It reminds me that I have people who love me. And I am undeniably grateful for the blessing others are in my life.