The author recently organized all her jewelry to preserve family memories. Here, she's wearing a pineapple necklace her mom got her in Hawaii.
Courtesy of Jillian Pretzel
Last year, when my Grandma Annette died, my cousins and I got to pick out some of her jewelry to take home.I was glad to keep a few mementos of my grandmother, but I wished I knew the stories behind the necklaces and bracelets I'd grabbed. Which was her favorite? Were any of them a gift from Grandpa? Which had she held onto the longest?It made me realize that, one day, when my grown-up kids and grandkids sort through my jewelry, they'd probably have the same questions. They wouldn't know the story behind the bracelet my mom got me when I finished graduate school or the watch I got from my childhood neighbor, a kind old man I considered family. And I hated the idea of these memories being lost.So I came up with a system to preserve my memories, piece by piece.I got the idea from my late grandmotherI have a lot of jewelry. Some "real," many plastic — most of them sentimental. There's the jewelry I wear regularly, all the stuff I acquired growing up, fun pieces from my mom's '80s collection, and more.At first, I thought about making a spreadsheet with photos of each piece and a message printed on the line beside it. But this seemed cold and technical. Next, I considered a handwritten paper to document the stories, but I worried it'd get lost.Then, a couple of months ago, I was going through an old jewelry box and found a little baggie. Inside was a bracelet with a heart charm, a set of earrings, and a handwritten note from Grandma Annette. On the paper, she explained that she wore the bracelet and earrings when she worked as a nurse, and wanted me to have them.
