Charmed, I’m Sure

I once sat at a table with a stranger who was wearing a charm bracelet. I was wearing my own. We had lunch at a conference, and the other attendees asked us about the charms. By the end of lunch the other woman—Maria—became a friend. We are still friends. and both of us still wear our bracelets.

Ahmed posed the notion, today, that it would be a fascinating blog post—to give the explanation for each charm jingling, rattling, or tinkling at my wrist.

Probably pure vanity, since he put each one on me, but not a bad notion.  About three years into our life together, he gave me a sterling toggle charm bracelet with four charms, and has added many others through the years.

Here goes… starting at the top:

1. A small Celtic triquetra  knot with a piece of enamel work at the bottom. One of the original charms, it marks my heritage and beliefs.
2. Max—one of my favorites. His daddy somehow found a little enameled pug charm that really does look like my beloved dog.
3. An angel… both of us are true believers. Ahmed doesn’t practice a formal, organized religion but was raised Yezidi. We both believe in angels very much. This one was also among the originals, to watch over me.
4. A compass—it even works! We spend a lot of time apart. When Aji began spending the last week of every month in Nova Scotia for work, he gave me this with a note that said “you are my true north.”
5. A survivor ribbon. Given to me when I beat cancer the second time.
6. A small, enameled green frog. I have a “thing” for smiling frogs. My worn flannel jammies that I keep at the lakehouse in Maine are pink with tiny smiling frogs all over them and Ahmed likes to shout “froggie time” just before pouncing on me when I wear them. (Weird? No, why would you think that?)
7. A fortune cookie that is—really cool!—actual sterling sheeting that has been folded, hollow, into a cookie charm. Our first Valentine’s Day we went to Kowloon restaurant in Saugus, MA. While I was in the ladies’ room, Ahmed took my fortune cookie, carefully tugged the little white slip of paper out, crossed off the message with a pen, and wrote “THE MAN SITTING ACROSS FROM YOU IS THE ONE”  on the other side, then painstakingly re-inserted it and placed it on my plate.  Yeah… I know. Me, too.  :)
8. Cell phone with a blue topaz screen. Also an original. Aji bought me a Nokia analog way back then that looked pretty much just like it, and we burned up the lines. :)  Also one of the originals.
9. Star that is done in filigree.  Our first “song” was Moon is Shining by Indigenous. The lyrics include the line “where are you, little star// please tell me where you are.”  It also references the whole compass and true north theme between us.  (It was a make-up gift… and a very good reminder of what matters.)
10. Last—a ladybug with silver laid over a garnet. I used to write for Ladybug Books, did a column for Ladybug, and was a reviewer there, too. LONG time ago, but she was an original charm, too, and has always been good luck.

There you have it… so if you are also charmed, tell me about yours, too!