Lost

I like jewelry. I don’t need it to be expensive (mostly because---face it---if I don’t lose it my kids will break it). I especially like jewelry that is sentimental. Most important would be my wedding rings. I can’t think of a time that I’ve really lost those---shown here on my wedding day.

Second in order of importance would be the ring that Taylor gave me for my first mother’s day. He had just graduated from the University of Utah. He spent the large majority of the money he got from graduating to buy me a ring with two pink sapphire hearts and little diamonds on it. I wear it almost every day (probably should have cleaned it before I took a picture!) Point is that we were dirt poor, and he spent all he had on it. I love it because every time I wear it I know he loves me.

The third most important piece of jewelry I own is a green rhinestone organ donation awareness pin. I spoke at a big organ donation conference in San Antonio just weeks after competing at Miss America. They had the pin made for me and presented it to me there. It’s displayed in a shadowbox in my hall.

I have earrings that matter too. The pair I was wearing when I won Miss Utah:

The earrings I wore for eveningwear at Miss America:

These weren’t mine to keep, but I borrowed them from Melissa who is very special to me, and she wore them when she made the top 5 at Miss USA---so they were a great good luck charm:

There is a pair of gold hoops that are set with a double-row of rhinestones that I adore. I wore them for swimsuit at Miss A and to probably every fireside I ever did (wow. This was after my hair disaster. My hair was still really coppery there):

I have other favorites associated with favorite people and experiences: The pair I wear most often now that I got at Wendi’s Gardner Village store before it closed. They are two acrylic cubes turned on point hanging from a silver….loop thing I guess. And a special silver pair from Sandra Lloyd who has now passed on, given to me when I gave up my crown. A couple pairs that I received at Miss America from sponsors or my casino or something (wish I remembered). I have a lot more special earrings than I realized!

And there is one bracelet that I love. I wore it in eveningwear when I won Miss Utah. I had little balls hanging off the tiny belt on that tied on the side of my dress. We added them on after we got the dress. And we had to buy the rhinestone balls in bulk, so we ended up with quite a few. Which led to the idea of this beautiful bracelet. When all was said and done we used the bracelet to be the headpiece for my veil on my wedding day. (And the dumb lady that made it took apart the other balls without my permission and glued them to my veil, so I guess that bracelet in its original form is lost too.)

And to the point. I’ve lost a few necklaces that I really wish I hadn’t. The absolute most important one was one from Melissa and Shar (do you guys read my blog? I kind of hope you don’t read this and find out that I lost the necklace you gave to me.) They gave it to me the night I competed in talent at Miss Utah. I played a Rachmaninoff piece and they gave me a rock (a big, real rock) with the word “believe” printed on it. (I haven’t lost that! Kind of hard to lose a big rock anyway…) and a gorgeous necklace with a large “diamond” rock set in gold on a very delicate gold chain. (The idea was that I got a couple big rocks to rock out to Rachmaninoff.) The necklace was gorgeous. I got compliments on it all the time. I wore it on almost every special occasion of my life after that point---including while giving birth to my two children. Last I saw it was in Logan a while after Kyle was born. I searched that house high and low a number of times, Including every crack and crevice right before we moved. I have mourned this necklace like no other thing I’ve lost. I love the people who gave it to me, and I loved the times I’ve worn it. Here’s a picture of me wearing it, but you can’t really see it. BTW how gorgeous was Claire? (Mel and Shar, if you do read this, you did give me another necklace when I gave up my Miss Utah County title. It’s gold and pearl and gorgeous. It came with it’s own holder and box which is safely tucked away. I wore them on my wedding day and still get them out on special occasions, so I’m not a total loser.)

Second lost necklace story: I think I’ll get in trouble for this one (and please don’t tell the Losees). When I won Miss Utah I was handed flowers and a gift from Losee Jewelers. I actually didn’t make it home with the flowers, but that’s for another time. The gift box contained a gorgeous real ruby and diamond necklace. I proudly wore it for about a month. Then I lost it. I have no idea where it went. I’m pretty sure I lost it at Just For Tonight, but I have no proof of that and it was never discovered. I was so sick about it. It was the first collection of precious stones I had ever owned and I lost them within 6 weeks. Awesome. No picture exists. But there were 4 decent sized rubies and a number of small diamonds. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Another one that occurred to me today was when I saw a picture of this online while I was looking for vintage valentines for a craft (so maybe I did a search for vintage superman while I was at it---it’s a running theme for me lately). I had this necklace in high school. I also had a big Superman ring. I don’t know where either of them are today. They embodied a time-period of my life, and I wish I still had them. (Seeing this picture was the reason I’m writing this post.)

Have you ever lost something irreplaceable? Clearly I could buy that superman necklace again, but the others were unique and one-of-a-kind for sure. And besides, it still wouldn’t be the exact necklace that I was wearing at the exact moment Lois & Clark ended forever anyway.

And the moral of the story is:

Once I read an article saying that we should be relieved when we lose or break important things because then we don’t have to worry about losing or breaking them anymore. That we should just be grateful for the time we had with them. And I like that. Relationships are that way too, especially in regard to people passing away---however I’m certain that we’ll be with the people in our lives again, but I’m not too sure about the THINGS. And in the end, people and experiences are what matter. I do not need to hold the necklace to know that I love Melissa and Shar or that I gave birth to my children. I do not need the necklace to prove that I won Miss Utah---I think maybe the crown (which is still with me and in tip-top shape) can prove that. And even without any of that I have the memories of wearing them, and in some cases picture-proof.

The jewelry is just what it was in the first place. Evidence of a relationship. Evidence of an event. I don’t need to hold it to know it happened.