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 grandmother
I 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.
I remember her mailing these to me when I was a kid, and I always stored the bracelet in the bag with the note. I knew, even then, that the memory was as important (or maybe more important) as the jewelry itself.
Maybe I could do something similar with the rest of my jewelry.
So, I ordered 3-by-4-inch clear plastic bags, selecting ones with small white rectangles on the outside so I could write directly on the bag rather than folding papers inside. Little by little, I put all my jewelry in bags and included any information or memories on the outside, addressing them to my kids.
Some notes were simple, like: “Your dad gave me this bracelet for Christmas one year in college.” Others were longer, like: “My mom got me this pineapple necklace from the hotel gift shop when she took me to Hawaii in second grade. I thought it was so pretty and wore it to school all the time. My clearest memory from that trip is hiking an old volcano together.”
It took weeks to go through it all, bagging a few rings during the kids’ nap times or as I waited for water to boil. Sometimes I’d find a piece I really loved, and wear it around the house.
My 5-year-old “helped” too, drawing little pictures on spare baggies and trying on the more sparkly bracelets and rings.
Not every piece is an heirloom
Of course, not every piece of jewelry had a memory to go with it. Some I didn’t even recognize. My mom helped identify some jewelry she’d given me when I was a kid and some brooches that came from her mom or grandma. But some pieces were a mystery even to her.
So I labeled honestly. One set of clip-on earrings got the note: “I don’t know where I got these, but I remember playing dress up with them when I was a kid.”
Meanwhile, some stuff didn’t get a bag at all. There was a lot of jewelry I got in high school or college that I knew I wouldn’t wear again. My daughters saved a few items from the discard pile, but I tossed a good number of mood rings and plastic bracelets.
I was excited to preserve my memories, but I didn’t need to keep every single memento.
Storage is challenging, but it’s worth it
When I’d finished marking all the bags, I realized there was one clear downside to my method: jewelry boxes aren’t designed to store little baggies.
Only about a dozen bags fit in my favorite jewelry box, and even then, opening a box to a bunch of translucent plastic doesn’t exactly inspire glamour.
So I ended up picking several pieces I saw myself wearing on a daily basis, or for a fancy dinner, and put them in the little dish I keep by the bathroom sink.
As for the rest of my collection, I thought about putting it all in a small dresser drawer or maybe a shoe box, but ended up choosing an Easter basket. Maybe it’s unconventional, but the basket holds all my jewelry, it’s light, it’s pretty, and it fits nicely in my closet. It works great, at least until I find something more permanent.
When, years ago, I first tried on the little heart bracelet Grandma Annette sent me, I thought it was pretty, and I was touched she thought of me. But now, when I think about its history, I love it even more. It feels like a family treasure, a little piece of history I’m proud to wear.
I hope one day my kids will see my jewelry, read the stories, and find a few pieces that make them feel the same way.
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