My Wise Child

October 11, 2006 /

I’m sad, because I lost one of my favorite earrings the other day. They were little gold hoops, but with a delicate pattern etched into the gold. My bestest friend, Rosemary, gave them to me a few years ago. I’ve worn them pretty much every day. They had a little click attachment on the back. Well, on Sunday, I was wearing them, and I lay down to take a nap. I forgot to take off my earring when I did so. When I woke up, we went to the shops to get a few tops for our growing girl. We walked all over Old Navy and the mall. I came home, and then went out again to wash my dirty car. On the way out to the car, I noticed that my earring was gone. 🙁 The little snapbar closure must have come undone while I was napping. It wasn’t on the bed, or in the bedroom, or anywhere I could find it in the house. There’s a small chance it will turn up at some point, so I’m keeping the other one…but I’m not getting my hopes up too high.

What has this to do with the title of my post, you may well ask? It reminded me of the last time I lost a favorite piece of jewlery. Last year, I put my wedding ring in my pocket so I could take a nap on the sofa (or maybe to cook chicken, who knows) and I forgot it was there. (My wedding ring was also my engagement ring, so it has nooks and crannies down under the diamonds and so on…I don’t want bacteria from raw meat in there…so I take it off when I cook meat.) When I went looking for it, it was gone. I looked in the hamper, the washing machine, the jeans, the drier, all over the house. I was so miserable. At one point, I was laying on the sofa, crying desolute tears, and Maya came over to comfort me. “It’s just a ring, Mama.” she said. “But it was my wedding ring, sweetheart…and I remember the day your dad gave it to me…how we drank champagne and rode the cable cars and it was such a wonderful warm October evening… That ring was so special to me.” “I know, Mama, but you still have your husband. The marriage is more important than the ring.”

Wow. That got me. I was able to mop up my face and soldier on after that. And two weeks later, taking clothes out of the washing machine, I heard a clinking noise…and it was there. I ran downstairs crying, I was so happy. Maya said she thought I was going to throw up. Whew. What a relief. I don’t know how it ended up in the washing machine, when I had looked there several times before. Probably got stuck up under the agitator or something stupid.

About a month after that day, we went to Berkeley with Ted’s mom, to look at the Indian Jewlery stores. While there, I found a beautiful gold ring with a pretty paisley type pattern in it, and Ted bought it for me. So now that’s my wedding ring, and the original (also still my wedding ring) is on my other hand. Not conventional, I know. But that’s us, anyway.

14 Comments

  • Ml

    October 11, 2006 at 10:38 pm

    I love earrings like that! One time I brushed my ear (apparently it was violent…) and smacked my earring off. It looked similar to the picture in your post, but it was a bit smaller. I looked and looked and couldn’t find it anywhere. A half an hour later I felt something poking me in my…erm…cleavage (that place is such a trap). I looked and there was my earring. I’m guessing it looked in my hair and fell in “there.”

    Maya is a very wise child! Her statement about the marriage being more important the ring is so right on. She’s got a good head on her shoulders!

  • Shelliza Ragnauth-McCarville

    October 11, 2006 at 11:16 pm

    I have to agree with Maya. What wise words! Glad you found your wedding ring, though. I take mine off to cook or clean for the same reason of not wanting it to get “germy”, but I’m very fearful of losing it or any of my jewellery. I guess it’s the sentiments that are attached to it. Everytime I look at a particular piece of jewellery I have, I think of who gave it to me and why. Hope you find that earring soon.

  • Heather

    October 12, 2006 at 12:18 am

    Yup, she’s a smart one!

    I have similar earrings that I wear all the time and twice I’ve lost one and ended up finding them in odd places. So far they’ve always returned to me. Hope yours does too.

  • Lalunas

    October 11, 2006 at 11:32 am

    J,
    The case of the missing ring and earring. I am glad the story of the missing ring had a good ending
    I just love jewerly and Mom always ask me how I keep tract of all the jewelry I have collected over the years. Each peice is very special and if I lose one I always have a jewelry fit. So I can understand how you feel about the earring. Sending good luck wishes you will find it.

  • Py Korry

    October 11, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    Since I don’t wear a lot of jewlery, I like to think that I wouldn’t really be upset if I lost something. But then I think of the watch you gave me for our wedding and if it got lost, I would be flat as a pancake.

    And sometimes Maya says the most mature things. And sometimes just makes weird faces and loud noises. So, it all balances out. 🙂

  • Lotus

    October 11, 2006 at 6:39 pm

    Hope the missing earring turns up, J – it’s always a bummer when a sentimental piece of jewellery goes missing. And what a wise young lady Maya is, you must be so proud of her!

  • Beenzzz

    October 13, 2006 at 6:35 pm

    I would be crushed too if I lost my wedding ring. Maya was right though! 🙂 She’s a smart cookie. Sorry about your earrings. I hope you find them soon too!