It’s a Charmed Life

The original bracelet



Gimmicky tourist souvenirs stuffed into suitcases filled to the brim with tee shirts and coffee mugs. I’m guilty of lugging some of that stuff home too. Who doesn’t have  a metal Eiffel Tower on a shelf at home?  I usually bring home a tee shirt, liquor, lot of pictures. If I’m lucky enough to find one, a small silver charm tucked away in a small pouch will find it’s way home with me.

When I was a young girl 8 or 10 I don’t really remember exactly, I was given a silver charm bracelet by my Aunt Sara. It had one charm on it already, a disk with a dogwood flower; it’sthe state flower of Georgia.

Soon after, the bracelet filled up with all sorts of wonderful travel souvenirs. My parents brought back a charm from all the cities from their European trip in 1972. A beer stein with a lid that opens, Turkish dancing shoes, and some Greek statues just some of many charms that filled my bracelet. During my dad’s business trips he rarely came back without a charm, Chicago, Texas and many other states.

I continued  that tradition of collecting charms when I lived in Europe.. Three years and many cities later, I now have 4 bracelets of my own plus the two my mother gave me. It’s too much jingling to wear a bracelets, so now  I turned them into a necklace that I wear on special occasions when I get it out the box. 
I love that each charm can tell you a story. The wine cup from the Rhine River cruise I took with friends I had just met in Germany. The tri-trip hat I got in Williamsburg on a trip with my family. The Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco or the mountain cable car from Switzerland I got when my best friend came to visit.

Each little charm is part of my past. It really should be called a life story necklace. For me I will always have a charmed life.

The growing collection

It’s now become a necklace

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