Time in a Bottle

If I could make days last forever,
If words could make wishes come true,
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.
--Jim Croce

I was cleaning my dresser today, part of all the New Year's cleaning and trying to get the house in order before going back to work after Christmas break. I came across the charm necklace I had in high school and college. Charm necklaces were a jewelry fad that started when I was in high school...a 1" ring or so that you could add charms to and you wore on a chain around your neck instead of adding the charms to a bracelet. Some 20 years later, Italian Charm Bracelets became the way to wear charms...small rectangular charms that linked together on an elastic band. I took a look at the two collections of charms put togher 20 years apart to see what they said about me...

CHARM NECKLACE (late 70s/early 80s)
Teddy Bear - because I collected teddy bears
Anchor from Madeline Island - a love of the Great Lakes, sailboats
Bicycle - representing my days of cross-country bike touring
Grizzly Bear - from a trip to Alaska in 1982
Musical Notes - for playing saxophone, being in marching band
Aries - my astrological sign, love of stars/nighttime
78 - the year I graduated from high school
Sombrero - from a trip to Mexico in 1980

ITALIAN CHARM BRACELET (early 2000s)
#1 Teacher - from a student in the class I had for 2 years
I love Country Music - because I do!
North Shore - for my love of the Great Lakes
Jeweled P - for my mother's name, Patricia
Ace of Hearts - because she loved to play Bridge
Jeweled S - my oldest daughter's initial
Butterfly - she always makes me think of butterflies
Jeweled T - my middle daughter's initial
Frog - she loves froggies
Jeweled L - my youngest daughter's intial
Heart that says Mom - she gave me that one
Sax - because I played saxophone
Vikings - the NFL team I follow
Hummingbird - my favorite bird of all
Heart - for all the things I love that are on the bracelet
Scotland Flag - the country I want to travel to
Kitties - for all the kitties I've ever had

With the Italian Bracelet, I decided not to only include charms for the things that were important to me, but also for the women in my life who were most important to me -- my Mother and my 3 daughters. For that reason, I have a charm with the initial of each of their first names, and something that reminds me of each of them.

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you.