I'm Pandora Good!

I received the actual Pandora bracelet for my charms for Christmas last year. My very first charm was one with green stones from my mom. I was a little confused at why she chose a charm with green stones for my first addition to the bracelet since my birthstone is a light blue and I couldn’t think of any other reason why she would have picked green, but I liked it none-the-less. It turns out she just liked the color and thought that it suited me.

My second addition to my bracelet is my favorite. My sister-in-law gave me the music note charm for Christmas this year. The funny part of it was, when I opened the charm box I looked inside and found a ghost charm. I thought to myself, “cute, but why would she give me a ghost for Christmas?” I looked up and smiled while showing the gift to everyone in the room and said, “Thanks for the cute charm Lindsey.” She squinted at the charm in my hand and replied, “oh my gosh! That’s not supposed to be for you!” It turns out that she wrapped a charm for her sister at the same time as she wrapped mine and both her sister’s name and mine is Amanda so she got the two mixed up. She later gave me the charm she meant to which was the music note charm. I love to sing and have been in many musicals over the years. Music has always been a major part of my life and has made me who I am today. It is one of the things that really defines me as a person and this is just on of the many reasons why I love charm bracelets. Even though the charms are small, simple objects, they usually symbolize major portions of the wearer’s life. Each one has its own unique story.

Another funny bit about the story of the mixed up charms is that the ghost charm that was meant for the other Amanda was hand picked by our nephew, Ethan, who is 4 years old. He picked it up in the store and said, “I want to give Amanda this one ‘cause it is cool!” Lindsey, (my sister-in-law) responded by asking him if he really wanted to get Amanda a ghost for Christmas and he was absolutely sure of it. Even though a ghost doesn’t really define who Amanda is as a person, she loves the charm because our adorable nephew picked it out himself and it gives her a great story to tell about that particular charm. She wouldn’t trade that ghost charm in for anything!

The gift box charm on my bracelet is from my parents for my 22nd birthday. We took a weekend trip to Minneapolis to celebrate my birthday and to visit the Mall of America. While browsing the stores, we spotted a Pandora store and mom suggested we go in and pick one out for my birthday. The first display box we came to contained a charm that resembled a wrapped gift with a bow on top. My mom and dad thought that this one was perfect for the occasion. When she purchased the charm and handed it to me to add on to my bracelet, she said “a gift for a gifted girl. We are so proud of you and the woman you’ve become.” I will always remember that moment because I had been very stressed the week before our trip to Minneapolis. With this semester being my last in college and between all of the deadlines, my internship, and looking for jobs for after graduation, I hardly had any time to myself. Just to know that my parents were proud of me and all of my hard work seemed to lift away all the craziness I was feeling the week before. It really gave me confidence and a week later I got an interview at a public relations firm in Milwaukee.

Finally, my last charm (the dangly one with the clear stone) was from my boyfriend of 6 years. He never knows what to get me for my birthday or Christmas and I’m not the kind of person who just flat out tells people what I want. I did, however, know exactly what I wanted from him: a new charm for my bracelet. So, if I wasn’t going to just tell him what I wanted, I should just drop hints, right? One would think so, but some men don’t exactly pick up on subtle hints. I tried flashing my bracelet at him every chance I got saying that I loved my charms that I got for Christmas and how they make such a perfect gift. Then, a day before my birthday, he asks me what I wanted for a gift. UGH! I decided I would try it one last time that night. I laid it on pretty thick and all of a sudden, you could almost see a light go on above his head or maybe some gears were beginning to turn. He turns to me and says, “huh, so where do people go to buy those charm things?” Wow, really sneaky right? After telling him that some people go to this store and the charms are called Pandora charms, etc., he thought he had just come up with the world’s greatest idea. The next morning he shows up at my house with a small gift box tied with a bow, in which was this cute dangly charm. After I told him that I loved it he said to me, “I know… I’m good aren’t I?” I looked at him with a sympathetic expression and replied, “yup… you sure are.”

-Amanda Meissner