Family

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Most of my jewelry is cheap costume jewelry, holding only a little sentimental value. I complete my dressing routine before church with necklaces, colorful pins on blazer lapels and earrings. Mom always matched her outfits with items from her jewelry boxes and shared many pieces with me before her death. My sisters and I divided the remaining trinkets after her funeral. As we handled each article, precious memories surfaced and helped bring closure in our time of loss. The rings are my most valuable keepsakes; I wear her gold wedding band and cherish her mother’s ring.

I have renamed the mother’s ring to my sibling ring. The five birthstones represent the Fords and are reminders of the family ties that bind us. I am emotional about the emeralds. “And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance (Revelation 4:3 NAS).” My sister Donna and I were both born in the month of May and the jeweler placed the green gemstones on the outsides with June, October and December birthstones between our emerald bookends. Donna was an avid reader and bookends are such an appropriate term of remembrance. I highly value my sibling relationships…

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