by Esther P. Chase

Charms for my Early School Years

In anticipation of my first day of school, all three of us debated the attributes of school charms from the gold charms for charm bracelet collection. The charm we chose was the school house charm from the Rembrandt charms collection. On the day of my confirmation, my parents added a sterling silver charm from the silver charms for bracelets selection. Of course, my friends and I regularly inspected each addition as charms were added to our charms bracelets for each milestone. I did admire the Bat Mitzvah 14K gold charms some of my friends had added to their charms bracelets.

My mother wanted to order charms for my first scraped knee, first playground bully, first bike, first roller skates, first haircut, first lost tooth, etc. Fortunately, my father convinced her there would be many more important milestones in my life to remember with charms for her charm bracelet. They did add a sterling silver charm when I joined the Girl Scouts. Today, I wonder why they didn't add a Brownie charm to the charm bracelet.

A trip to see The Nutcracker became an annual tradition. My First review of the Nutcracker necessitated the addition of the Nutcracker 14K gold charm to my mother's charms bracelet. I still go to see the Nutcracker every year-- first with my children and now with my grandchildren.

Our first trip to Disney World was a major milestone. A 14K gold charm was added to the charms bracelet to remember my first airplane ride. Much discussion was necessary to settle on one charm for Disney World. Should it be a Florida state charm for the charm bracelet or one of the many charms for Disney World. We finally decided to add a Mickey Mouse charm to the charms bracelet.

During this time, I had a very passionate love affair with Pot Belly Pigs. I never did talk my parents into buying one for me. I was also overruled on adding a pig charm to the charms bracelet. At this time, it was still my mother's charms bracelet and she didn't want a pig charm-not even to placate her first born daughter.

Chapter 3 - Charms for My High School Years