Julie Seedorf, Something About Nothing

The word jewel can be traced back to the Latin word “jocale” meaning plaything. According to Wikipedia, the word jewelry is derived from the word jewel. I like the idea that we might think of jewelry as a plaything. After all, isn’t that what we women do when we rummage through our jewelry boxes trying on piece after piece of jewelry so that when we walk out the door our jewelry makes a statement. Sometimes mine makes a very bad statement, but none the less it makes a statement.

I was curious as to the time in history that jewelry arrived on the scene of our ancestors. It appears that the oldest jewelry was in the form of Nassanus shells more than 100,000 years ago. According to Wikipedia, most cultures have a practice of keeping a large amount of wealth stored in the form of jewelry.

And then there is me. I might be part of a culture that stores their wealth in the form of jewelry, but the wealth in my jewelry is not in the cost but in the memories.

I have no class. I love cheap jewelry. I love gaudy earrings! Gaudy earrings are cheap so I can have gazillions of gaudy earrings. In fact, I have so many gaudy earrings that I could change earrings every minute in the day and not have worn all of them.

I do admire expensive jewelry. I might consider purchasing a piece or two until I look at the price. I admire, ooh and ahh, and then I remember how many gaudy earrings I could buy for the price of one fine piece of jewelry.

The better half in my life tried to educate me years ago. He would buy me semi-expensive earrings and gorgeous necklaces. I actually loved them, but they would sit in my drawer because, you see, I am a klutz. Or should I say I am a forgetful klutz. I have a problem putting things away and the earrings land on my dresser or nooks and crannies not to be seen again for years, until I would decide to clean those nooks and crannies. In fact, the other day, Sam, my faithful pooch, was savoring a taste of one of my earrings before he decided the wire was a little prickly so he gave it back to me. So even if I had expensive jewelry I probably would not wear it because I would lose it.

Recently I decided that I should start wearing some of my old necklaces. I don’t wear necklaces very often, but I wanted to try and be a little bit more fashionable. Did you know the gold chains on necklaces shrink after a few years? I pulled the first chain out. I hooked it around my neck. It was a little challenging because it was so tight. How could that be? Maybe my memory of that necklace was wrong.

I moved on to a necklace that I had worn many times. I used to love the chain necklace with the locket that said “mom” on it. Again I hooked the necklace around my neck. Someone must have washed this chain, too. It, too, had shrunk. After all, my neck couldn’t have grown, could it?

I looked in the mirror. Yes, it was now a choke chain. It was choking the neck that held up the double chin that I had been ignoring in the mirror the last few years. With a sigh, I put the necklaces away.

It did prove my point to my better half. Imagine his reaction if he had spent millions (well, I can dream that we had millions) on a necklace only to have it shrink.

We put a great deal of emotion into jewelry. An engagement ring and a wedding ring mean a commitment to someone you love. A charm bracelet triggers memories of special events in our lives.

Recently a friend gave me a silver gratitude bracelet made by a friend of hers. Each bead is a letter of the alphabet, and when you touch the bead, you are to remember something that you are thankful for. Each time I wear my bracelet I am not only reminded of the different words of gratitude that the beads bring to my mind, but I am also thankful for my friend who gave me the bracelet.

I have a hard time giving up any of my jewelry because each piece tugs on the strings of my heart. Each piece of jewelry holds a memory no matter how inexpensive it is. Each time I wear one of the pairs of earrings my granddaughter has given me it puts a picture in my mind of her happy smile when she sees me wear them. Another piece of jewelry received from a co-worker more than 40 years ago brings memories of happy times and a remembrance of someone who no longer shares this earth with us.

If our jewelry could talk, imagine what tales they could tell.

My wacky earrings are well-known to my grandchildren, and each time they visit they have to help me choose the earrings for the day. Wacky earrings cheer me up, and they are also a great conversation starter.

So now that I have been blabbering about jewelry with no apparent reason you might be wondering what my message is. It is this: There is value in a tiny, gaudy, cheap object if it means something to you. It doesn’t have to be valued by the rest of the world. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net. Her blog is paringdown.wordpress.com. Listen to KBEW AM radio 1:30 p.m. Sundays for “Something About Nothing.”