Author Information
AVA AND THE JEWELER
Today was a special day for us…for Ava our granddaughter…
and for our friend Kim…who happens to be a jeweler too
but this is a story that begins 16 years ago…so let me now review:
That’s when Ava, our only granddaughter chose our world to enter…and adorn
and on that day between Deborah and I…the seed of an idea was born…
We decided to buy Ava a charm bracelet…minus any charms…
(in our minds our direction was clear)
on this bracelet we would add a different charm each year.
Each charm would represent a special memory…a time…a place…a scene
chosen each year of her life…until she turned 16.
For her first birthday we found Kim, a jeweler,
(we liked the tattoos emblazoned on her arm)
and when we told her of our plan…she was happy to attach the charm.
Kim did such a wonderful job with that first charm…our path ahead was clear…
we thought: What if we left Ava’s bracelet and its new charm in Kim’s hands each year!
So every year for the last 16 we did what we had done the year before…
We handed Ava’s bracelet and her new charm to Kim at her jewelry store.
I don’t know exactly when or how it happened…during the time one year begins and another ends but somewhere within those 16 years the jeweler and her customers became friends.
How quickly 16 years have passed…16 years we would’t have missed…and Ava was euphoric when we finally clasped the bracelet 'round her wrist.
But once we saw that bracelet on her wrist…we realized the gift wasn’t over yet…not until Ava and her bracelet…and Kim, the jeweler met.
So that’s why yesterday was so special…seeing Ava and Kim…arm in arm…connected for a lifetime…by a bracelet filled with charms.
Now…whenever Ava looks at her bracelet…hopefully she’ll be aware…
of the people and places each charm represents…
and of the jeweler who put them there
