A jewelry box, to me, represents a place where you may collect valuables and keep them safe so they won’t get lost or misplaced.
As I was rifling through my jewelry box the other day on the hunt for some hoop earrings, it occurred to me that most of my treasures I was keeping safe were not actually pieces of jewelry.
I have to believe that I’m not the only person that has more than jewelry crowding around my bracelets and earrings.
Hospital Bands & Ticket Stubs
I have this problem with keeping items and not letting them go. While I see this issue in my China cabinet filled with knickknacks, my Pie Safe brimming with antiques, and my Hope Chest crammed with childhood memories, I also see the same thing when I open up my jewelry box.
I’m not sure what it is with the hospital bands. I go to the hospital, have a baby, and leave with a kid, some formula, a couple of those blue nose sucker things, and a wrist band that I can’t bring myself to throw away.
I don’t know why.
Maybe it’s because the wrist band is the first item that was officially attached to them in some way. I don’t know. What I do know is that my jewelry box has hospital bands for all 3 of my children, plus the one I had to wear while enjoying my stay at the hospital.
Regardless, I do know that I’m not ready to part ways with them just yet. I guess they will continue to live amongst my rings, and other mementos – such as ticket stubs.
The ticket stubs, I suppose, are not so odd to collect. The small piece of paper represents an event that more than likely would have held some special meaning to someone.
My jewelry box has a couple of John Anderson tickets (my Mom bought them for me), along with a couple of ticket stubs from when the boys’ football team played at Lucas Oil Arena.
Again, I’m not ready to part ways with them just yet.
Maybe I’ll eventually get there. I’m not too fussed about it, truthfully.
Thumbprints & a Rubber Grommet
There’s a lot to discuss in the above photo, so let’s get to it.
- Thumbprint necklaces – In the top left corner, there are two thumbprint necklaces that the boys made me one year for Mother’s Day. They have not yet deteriorated with time, however it is a concern based on similar items they have made in the past. I should spray a clear finish over the plaster hearts to help preserve them.
- Random Keys – I have absolutely no idea what the brown keys are for. I do think that the black key may go to a book safe I used to have that was disguised as a dictionary. I could probably get rid of it.
- Buffalo Nickel – In the same section as the black key, there’s a Buffalo nickel. It’s probably not worth much at all, but I think they are neat to have and didn’t want to accidentally spend it, so it found a home here.
- Green, Plastic, Costume Earrings – The green earrings in the top left corner of the bottom picture used to be my Grandma Lovette’s earrings. They are, of course, clip on. The earrings look absolutely ridiculous sitting in my jewelry box, but somehow, they looked exactly right when she wore them on special occasions. I’m not sure how. It must be a ‘Grandma’ thing.
- Family Crest Pin – In the box directly right of the green earrings, sits a Coat of Arms pin. The story goes that the crest represented Grandma Lovette’s origins from England. Grandma never told me the history behind it. I’m really not even sure there is a story to tell. The pin is old and has markings on the back. It’s an interesting piece of jewelry that I try to keep safe.
- Rubber Grommet – There are many other items in these two pictures. There are some ruby stud earrings, along with some gold/diamond hoop earrings in the same box as the nickel, as well as a couple of pins Mom used to wear. The one other item that holds the most value to me, however, is the gray, rubber grommet sitting in the middle of the bracelet, next to the Coat of Arms pin. There was a time, not too long ago, that Brian jammed his ring finger on his left hand. It was so bad that we had to pry his wedding band off because his finger was turning blue. We were able to safely remove the wedding band so that his finger could heal, however this meant that he could no longer wear his ring – at least not until the finger returned to normal size. During this time, Brian refused to spend his days not wearing a wedding ring. He solved the issue by heading to a hardware store and buying a rubber grommet that would stretch safely around his finger. Once he was able, he put his wedding ring back on and was going to just toss away the grommet. I saved it.
There are things worth saving, and I think that applies in this instance.
Priceless Treasures Do Not Necessarily Equate to High Monetary Value
There are more pictures I could show you from my jewelry box.
There’s a locket a student gave me right before he moved away from our district, with his picture taped inside.
I kept a note from my Mom that she included in one of my presents from her long ago.
There’s also a section that holds my class rings, both from high school and Michigan Tech.
The point of this post, however, is that I am so grateful for the people and the experiences that have overflowed my jewelry box with love.
I hope that one day, Khloe and the boys are able to open their own keepsake boxes, and feel the love from their lives fill their hearts the same way it fills mine as I open the lid of my jewelry box and peek inside.
I am blessed.
Goals for Today:
- Clean the Kitchen
- Read a Book
- Work on Pinterest