If this bracelet could talk.........

I was 21 years old when I received this bracelet from my grandmother Odete.

I remember that day vividly as if it happened just yesterday. I slipped it onto my arm and since that day it has never come off.

I actually forget that it's there, but last night as I lay in bed I felt it on my arm and thought "if only this bracelet could talk, what would it say?".

It's starting to lose it's shape, it's scratched, it's worn, it's beat up and it's been through so much with me.

If it could talk it would tell you that it was there when I first met my husband......

It was there when he proposed to me........

It was there when we got married........

It was there when I found out I was pregnant with Jasmine.......

It was there when I made the long long long flight from South Africa to the United States...... 


It was there when I arrived in a strange land with no family but my husband......

It was there as I felt my belly grow with our child......

It was there through the birth.....

It was there as I held her in my arms for the first time........

It was there as a comfort object for her when she would fall asleep in the crib, she would grab the bracelet and hold on to it for dear life.....

It was there when I slipped it off my arm and onto the arm of a teddy bear to try and trick her into believing it was me.....and it was also there when the trick didn't work.

It was there when I found out I was pregnant a second time.......and it was also there as I rocked in bed sobbing when I found out the baby we already loved and were anticipating had been lost.

It was there as I struggled through the miscarriage and as I felt like my whole world was falling apart....

It was there when I became pregnant a third time and again it was there as I lost that baby too....it was wet with my tears, it was close to my face as I lay on my arm crying into my pillow.......

It was also there when I got pregnant a 4th time with Nicholas.....as I went through 9 months of a high risk, bitter sweet pregnancy.....

It was there through my fears, through my joys and through the first moments of his life.....

It's been with me through moves, through new chapters, new journeys, through reunions with family and vacations.

It's been back to South Africa......

It's been to the Grand Canyon, it's been to Los Angeles and Disneyland, it's walked the scary dark corridors of the Queen Mary ship, it's been to Texas and New Mexico and to Tomstone and through Kansas and Colorado and Wyoming.

It has packed boxes and unpacked suitcases.........

It's wiped runny noses and stroked bruises knees and it's been held close to my face as I worry, as I think, as I pray.

It's been with me through it all and it will continue with me on this journey of life.

It never leaves my arm, it may switch from the left one to the right sometimes but that's as far as it goes.

It's become almost like a part of me.

So if this bracelet could talk, I truly believe it would say "It's been a crazy ride but I can't wait for what is still ahead".