Memoirs of my Childhood Charm Bracelet

I recently submitted a story about my new Pandora charm bracelet and while writing, I was reminded of my old charm bracelet that I received on my golden birthday, March 10, 1996. My grandparents own a winter home in Brownsville, Texas and my family and I went to Disney World for four days before flying over to Brownsville to visit my grandparents and celebrate my birthday. Quite a birthday for a 10-year-old! I remember the night of my birthday perfectly because of the wonderful gift I received. The sun was just setting and it was that perfect time of evening. The air was warm but not too warm. Comfortable. I was sitting on the patio with my dad, grandpa and brothers, joking around like we always do. Grandpa, a hefty, jolly man was making fun of grandma for not being a very good bluff-er in the game of dice we had played earlier. Then, my mom and grandma came out of the house with a Lion King birthday cake with candles blazing. I was thrilled seeing as I knew the entire Lion King sound track by heart. I blew out the candles and my dad handed me a small rectangular box. I opened the present to find the most beautiful gold bracelet. From the gold links hung five gold charms. The first was a small piano charm. By that time, I had four years of piano lessons under my belt and “Fur Elise” by Beethoven was my favorite song to play. I probably liked it a little too much. For about a month, my mom would come home from work and I would be sitting at the piano playing that very same song. She would then ask me if I even knew any other songs. The second charm was a Mickey Mouse charm in light of the trip we had just taken to Disney World. Very fitting since I had come to the conclusion that Disney World was the most magical place on earth. The third charm was my very favorite and hung exactly in the middle of the bracelet: ballet slippers to represent the many hours I spent in dance class. Tap, jazz, ballet and modern, I just couldn’t get enough of dance classes. I loved being on stage whenever possible and that explains the next charm as well. A music note was my fourth charm to represent, again, my love for the stage, and the fact that I loved to belt out any tune as long as it was in front of people. The final charm was a softball. During the summer, I would rush through my farm chores to ride bike to meet my best friend down the road. We would then ride down to the ball diamond in the middle of the small town we lived in to meet the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, most of which were boys. We would play softball until the sun went down or until my mom drove to the field, rolled down her window and said it was time to go. I guess all of the practice paid off since, a few years later, my best friend and I were the only freshman to ever play on the varsity softball team in high school.

I ramble on about this bracelet because it was one of the greatest gifts I had ever been given. I wore it to church and to all special occasions. My mom said I shouldn’t wear it to school because I would probably lose it. Mothers always seem to know best and now I sit here and laugh to myself because I have no idea where this bracelet has ended up. I was never a neat person, and my room was far from tidy growing up. It probably ended up underneath a pile of clothes or under a dresser, God only knows. I would give anything to have this bracelet back. Maybe someday it will show up but until then, it’s just a great story to tell.

Amanda Meissner
Eau Claire, WI