Long Lost Treasures

This past weekend, I went home to Ohio for a bridal shower. While I usually cram my visits there with as many social engagements as the calendar can hold, this time, I knew better. Since April has been such a busy month, I was craving a retreat of sorts, and my dad's house was the perfect haven. I decided that aside from the shower, I would stay put and bask in the glory of quality over quantity. 

After the hectic day of the shower, I decided to head down to the basement, where I have a stack of boxes from high school, moving out of my childhood home, and college. I grabbed the box at the top of the stack, and realized it was essentially "My Life in a Box". Knick knacks from my childhood, a Precious Moments figurine, a music box that played "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head made by my grandfather... it was as if I could picture my childhood bedroom, with everything in its proper place. 

As I dug deeper, I unearthed notes passed to me in the halls of high school by my best friend, good luck "telegrams to the stars" sent to me backstage during the musical my senior year, and some choral music that I (whoops!) never returned to my college's music department. But then, I spied something I honestly forgot that I had -- a little cedar box where I had stored my most treasured possessions.

As I opened the box, I found some of my favorite pictures from my childhood (two of them pictured above). The first was my dad's favorite picture of me, from our backyard when I was about 4 years old. The second was a picture of my first communion at church, with my mom, dad, and grandparents on my mom's side, both of whom have passed away. I also found a card sent to me at college by my beloved Grandma Betty, who passed away this past July, that shared that she'd just finished watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and had enclosed $20 for me to spend "as I pleased". 

But then, tucked down beneath love letters from my high school boyfriend, something sparkly hit the light, and I caught my breath. Could it be, the necklace that I'd searched high and low for years before? Indeed, just lying at the bottom of the box was a diamond necklace that my mom gave me for my 21st birthday. At the time, the summer before my senior year of college, I barely realized the importance of such a gift. You see, she'd had it made using the diamonds from her engagement and wedding ring from my dad. They divorced when I was 16, and it was an incredibly difficult time for me. They had no use for the precious stones any longer, but to me, their only child and the self proclaimed best thing that came from their marriage, it was a treasure. 

I wore it a few times back then, and then apparently tucked it away in this important box and forgot about it. After moves after college and eventually away from Ohio, I had no idea where the necklace had wound up. It often upset me greatly, as I had grown to truly appreciate the sentiment and all it stood for. 

The next day, I had already planned on having lunch with my mom. I appeared proudly wearing the necklace, and she wept with happiness that the lost treasure had been found. We went to the jeweler who had made the piece and had it cleaned and the chain shortened, and now I plan on keeping it close to my heart (and in my jewelry box) for many, many years to come.