There’s a story to this necklace.

Once upon a time, my grandmother (Dad’s mother) wore this necklace just about every day. None of us is exactly sure why–did she make it herself? Did someone make it for her? But she obviously loved it. My mother would ask why, when she had so many other, nicer necklaces, she wore this one so often, and she would just smile and say she liked it. This drove my Mom a little nuts, and she grew to dislike the necklace.

When my grandmother died, though, my dad and uncle set up an estate sale to clean out the house and, on the last walk-through, Mom saw this sitting on Grandma’s dresser. The memories of Grandma wearing it ALL the time came flooding back, and suddenly, she just couldn’t bear to leave it there for strangers, and so she tucked it into her purse.

My sister has had it for years now, and pulled it out on Saturday so I could photograph it–and the whole time, I thought about my Grandma, and how she wore it just about every day. I don’t care that it’s just a string of buttons and beads that a kindergartener could make. (And, who knows, maybe one did?) It’s precious because it was hers and it meant a lot to her.

Of course, I can’t find a picture of her WEARING the necklace. Apparently most of the pictures I took (with my really grainy, low-tech cameras back in the early 1980s), were on special occasions when she DID wear her nicer jewelry. Isn’t that ironic? But, trust me. She really did wear this all the time!

Oh, and just to prove that I DO still spin…

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Grandma’s Button Band //